Before the Phoenix
by Kai Maciel
Summary: Uzumaki Sasuke hates his life. It's not easy being the son of the famous Uzumaki Naruto, the war hero and world saviour. Sometimes, he just wished he was the cool and stronger one. So what happens when he wakes up in the past as Uchiha Sasuke? Time Travel
1. Destroy Naruto

**Hi! Like always, thanks for reading my story. It means a lot!**

**This chapter is short and it's only an introduction. It is a side-story from my other fanfiction, Phoenix Rising. **

**This chapter has elements from both the first Naruto Movie (**_**Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow) **_**and the **_**Twelve Guardian Ninja**_** filler arc. Wait! Wait! Don't leave yet! It's only for the first chapters ^_^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Warning: spoilers for recent manga chapters.**

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><p><strong>Destroy Naruto<strong>

ナルトを破壊する _(Naruto o hakai suru)_

The six men entered the hotel that the decrepit old woman had chosen. The night was awful, the rain kept falling all day and it was freezing cold. In short, a shitty night after a shitty day.

"Hey, Boss!" a skinny looking man asked as he got closer to a man twice his size.

"What now?" the boss answered sharply, soaking wet.

"Is this the last time will meet her? I mean, I know we need the money and all but… Geez! That old hag scares the shit out of me."

The boss sighed.

"Probably this will be the last time. You should be ashamed of yourself" the boss scolded, though he felt nervous about the woman too. "Scared of an old lady like that, you wuss!"

"I can't help it, Boss. She… there's something about her. She looks like a witch."

The boss shrugged and told his men to follow him through the corridor.

The men entered a small room and stared at the woman who had hired them. Despite having her face covered by a hood, they could still see how hideous she was. With a face like that, no wonder she only met with them at night and hidden by the dark. Someone that ugly should never go out on the street.

"Did you bring what I asked you?" she said without missing a beat.

"Yes," the leader of the group said, handing her a folder full of papers that they had stolen. "The photos you requested are also in there. The archaeologists are not aware of anything, we were careful."

The old woman smiled and her face got even uglier.

"I see. You did a good job," she said, studying the photos of the ruins and reading the stolen reports.

For centuries the Hyouden Mountain had been nothing more than another snow covered mountain in the Snow Country. When it was discovered that a huge temple was hidden under tons of ice, everyone thought they would find gold and jewels or other treasures. Instead, the temple had just a bunch of worthless statues and ancient scribbles about human sacrifices and requests written on the walls that only historians and archaeologists have found interesting. No person with minimal intelligence would take these scriptures seriously.

Except that old hag.

The group of robbers thought she was quite senile since he came to hire them to spy on archaeological excavations in the new Spring Country. She wanted to know everything about the statues and the archaeologists' new discoveries. The latest news was that there is an ancient flow of chakra running under the temple.

"Yes… this is very interesting" the old woman said, giggling. "This is so perfect."

"We kept our end of the bargain" the boss said. "We spied for you for six months and gave you all the information you've asked for. The excavations are over now and Queen Koyuki is going to seal the place, so there's no need to keep going to the temple. We can't give you any more info so give us the money."

The old woman nodded.

"You're absolutely right, your job is done" she said as her lips curved into a depraved grin. "Now I don't need you anymore."

The boss didn't even have time to scream when the old woman swiftly slit his throat with a kunai. The other men offered little resistance, too shocked by what was happening, and when they did, it was too late. They never even suspected that she was a kunoichi.

Satisfied that none of her clothes were stained with blood, Fuka closed the door of the hotel room, paid her bill and left before the maid found out her little surprise. Poor woman, those stains would be very difficult to remove from the carpet, the walls and the ceiling.

For the first time in years, Fuka felt genuinely happy. Everything was falling into place perfectly and soon she would have not only her beauty back but also her revenge on Uzumaki Naruto.

She had underestimated him, she knew that now. Fuka understood that toying with him and believing that he was just a stupid and annoying brat had been her downfall. He destroyed all of her five bodies and, finally, her beautiful hair.

She still couldn't believe he found out that her hair was her life force and that her soul was inside it. However, he didn't know that she had one body left where she kept a small piece of her soul just in case: her old and withered original body.

The pain of having to walk around with that old and hideous body was unbearable, when she thought about her former beauty and power. She was too weak to steal other bodies again and, without her hair, she couldn't use them as her own and have her beauty back. All because of that hateful boy, Uzumaki Naruto! She wanted to make him pay for what he took from her. She wanted him to suffer!

She wanted to take over his body and use it more than anyone else's.

But how could she? She knew he was unbelievably powerful now. People called him the Savior because it was thanks to him that the Five Shinobi Nations had won the war against the Akatsuki.

It was thanks to Naruto that Uchiha Madara, once deemed as an immortal, was finally dead. As well as Uchiha Sasuke, one of the most powerful ninjas of the Uchiha clan. Once Naruto killed his former teammate, he had mysteriously disappeared, claiming to be travelling the world before assuming his position as Hokage.

Fuka knew she had no chances of getting her revenge. Naruto was a young man now and too powerful, she would never win.

If only she had fought against him sooner. If only Furido had decided to destroy Konoha when that damn jinchūriki was too weak to pose a threat to them. Hell! If only she knew…

Fuka glanced at the papers she held under her arm and smirked. The answer to all her prayers was in the ruins in the newly renamed Spring Country, formerly known as Snow Country. Those fools could see fantasies and nonsense about the temple, but she didn't. It was anything but fantasies, it was real.

To make everything even more perfect, the Queen was going to invite Uzumaki Naruto himself to attend the celebrations of the new country since he had been one responsible for killing her usurper uncle and made her accept her duty as a princess. A fucking hero to the core, even as pre-teen.

No one even remembered what a pathetic loser Naruto had been. That fucking blond had the perfect future: he was strong, young and renowned all over the world.

"But not for long, boy" she said to freezing wind. "Not for long…"

Covering her bald head, Fuka went to the Spring Country.

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><p><strong>That's the first chapter. To those who didn't watch the filler, Fuka was one of the villains who tried to take over Naruto's body because he was a Wind user. The way she steals someone else's body is through a kiss in the mouth. At first, Naruto was freaking out because he thought she wanted to make out with him and he didn't like "<strong>**easy" women.**

**I hope you liked this introduction. **

**See ya!**


	2. Invitation

**Hi there! **

**Small chapter again. I promise the next one will have more action.**

**I'm not sure I'm totally satisfied with this chapter, but I did my best. Naruto and Sasuke are still in the Unmei Islands.**

**Disclaimer: _Naruto _belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Riku belongs to Disney I guess.**

**Warning: Spoilers for those who haven't read _Phoeni__x__ Rising_.**

**I hope you guys like it!**

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><p><strong>Invitation <strong>

招待状 _(Shōtai-jō)_

On the record, Uchiha Sasuke, the international criminal, died on the night of his seventeenth birthday by the hand of Uzumaki Naruto, his former teammate. That was what Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, declared publicly and what was written on several history books as well as letters sent to almost every ninja village on the planet.

Only a few people knew that, on that same night, a raven haired baby had been born in front of a bewildered Naruto.

Due to Itachi's power, Uchiha Sasuke grew younger and younger, losing not only his adult body and strength but also his maturity, his knowledge and memories. At sunrise, lying in his oversized filthy clothes was a newborn baby boy, crying his eyes out in search of parental comfort. There was no hatred, no rage or lust for power in this child, just the craving to be held and loved.

Still stunned by what had happened, Naruto picked up the infant, wrapped him his warm coat and cuddled him close to his chest, promising that everything was going to be all right.

Little did he know that he had just found his son.

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><p><em>6 years later<em>

"Damn it, Riku!" Sasuke yelled, trying to grasp his two kunai with his hands. "Stop running around and fight."

The confident silver haired boy smirked.

"I'm not running, I'm dodging your attacks" Riku said. "You're just too slow."

Sasuke attacked him again while Riku defended himself with his katana. The two had been classmates for over a year now but Sasuke still couldn't escape the reputation of second best. Of course, he had defeated Riku but his losses outmatched his victories.

Their other classmates were watching them from afar. It was always amazing to see the two best students fight each other, particularly for the girls who couldn't decide who was cuter. Most of them had a crush on both boys.

The fight continued. Sasuke attacked and defended with his two kunai and tried to throw a few shuriken while Riku fought only with his brand new katana. It was a pure shinobi vs. samurai fight. Although he didn't show it, Riku was starting to feel a bit tired while Sasuke could go on four hours. Damn, he envied his stamina!

Sasuke was getting annoyed with this spar and decided to end it. He threw his kunai against Riku and made the hand seals to his most powerful jutsu yet.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

The fireball burst out Sasuke's mouth into Riku's direction, unfortunately, it was so small and weak that the young Sanada heir cut it in two very easily with his sword, dissipating it.

The crowd couldn't help it and burst out laughing, while the raven blushed in anger.

"Seriously Uzumaki… You call that a Katon?" Riku teased.

"Shut up!" Sasuke growled, cursing his pale skin which made him look like a tomato every time he blushed. A single glare to his classmates made them stop laughing. Sasuke could be a bit weaker than Riku, but he was still stronger than any of them.

"Guys! Guys!" a boy screamed, coming from the Samurai District. "The adults are having an all-out fight!"

"Eh? So what?" another kid said. "They have spars like… three times a week!"

"It's different this time!" the boy continued, panting heavily but very excited. "All the samurai are fighting against Naruto-sama! C'mon!"

"What?" the children exclaimed, getting up and following the boy.

"Now _**that**_ sounds interesting" Riku said. "Let's go!"

Like the others, Sasuke ran towards the Samurai District where a growing crowd was watching the spar. The raven haired boy pushed the people on his way until he found a good spot on top of a brick wall.

In the middle of the training field, dozens of young samurais charged against a young blond man. Within seconds, the blond ninja made hundreds of clones of himself and battled the samurais with ease. Even when most of his clones were dispelled by the samurais' katanas, the ninja battled them effortlessly, shattering their weapons with his Rasengan. As expected from Uzumaki Naruto.

"Man… Your Dad is really good" Riku said as he climbed the brick wall and sat next to Sasuke.

Sasuke couldn't help it and smiled with pride. His Tou-chan was definitely amazing! Even when the older and most experienced samurais joined the battle, Naruto could still fight them. And he wasn't even using his Sage Mode!

Sasuke watched in awe as his Daddy defeated seven opponents at the same time. He looked so awesome, strong and cool! He was truly an ace, shinning like a big golden star!

"Naruto-sama, you're so cool!" several kids yelled.

"Best Ninja in the world!"

"Naruto-sama is so powerful" a teenage girl near Sasuke exclaimed to her friends, who giggled and agreed with her. "And he is so hot too!"

"Doesn't he have a little brother or something?" another one asked. "I heard he lives with a little boy."

"No, it's his son" a brunette corrected.

"Really? But he's so young! I can't believe he already has a kid!"

Sasuke frowned. It wasn't unusual that most people thought he was Naruto's little brother instead of his son when they met him. After all, his father had been very young when Sasuke was _"born"_.

The raven had been both confused and excited about his origins. It was kind of cool knowing that he had been an adult but it was also frustrating because he couldn't remember anything about his first life.

What he did know about his past was actually very little: his parents were named Fugaku and Mikoto and he had an older brother named Itachi. All of them had been ninjas, his father had been the Captain of the Military Police Force and his brother had been an ANBU. Also, his parents had died when he was very young and his brother was dead now too.

Sasuke also knew that he had been a ninja before. It was so weird knowing that he had been a grownup ninja when he was still learning the basics now. There were a lot of times when he wished he could turn into that ninja again. It was frustrating having to wait and train for years until he could graduate. Somehow, it didn't seem fair. He had already graduated once, why did he have to do it all over again?

As Sasuke watched Naruto beat another samurai, he wondered what is former life had been like. He must have had teammates and gone into missions in Konoha, like all the other ninjas did. His dad had told him that he had been very powerful, so Sasuke assumed that he had been a successful shinobi even though he hadn't been as amazing and popular like Naruto.

When the fight was over, the blond ninja stood victorious among the defeated samurais, who moaned in pain at his feet. The crowd went wild and applauded him nonstop while Naruto smiled and crossed his arms behind his neck, looking rather embarrassed, like we wasn't used to being acclaimed.

Riku turned to Sasuke with his usual cocky smirk.

"And you can't even make a decent Katon" the silver haired boy teased. "Are you sure you're really his son, _second best_?"

Sasuke glared at him. Riku just loved calling him that damn nickname. If only he knew Sasuke had been a really strong ninja before… Damn! If Sasuke could be the ninja he was before, he would definitely kick his ass!

"Shut the hell up, bastard" the raven grumbled, though he thought that Riku was right. Naruto was so powerful that, next to him, Sasuke looked like a complete wimp. There was no way he could compare himself to his father. Naruto had been destined for greatness.

"_Is it because I'm adopted?"_ Sasuke thought sadly. _"If I were his real son, maybe I could do all that… Sure, Tou-chan gave me his blood and his chakra, but maybe that's not good enough. If only I could remember the jutsus from when I was a ninja..."_

Naruto helped some of the samurai get up while they bowed down to him, telling him how honored they were that he had fought them. Like always, the blond jinchūriki looked uncomfortable with all the attention and praise he was getting. Sasuke couldn't understand why. After all, his Dad was the son of the Fourth Hokage (who was legendary himself), he had defeated the current Kazekage, he had been the apprentice of Jiraiya, one of the Konoha Sannin, and the hero of the Fourth Shinobi War. All his life was filled with successes and respect.

Often, Sasuke wondered what would be like if _**he**_ was the star, the guy everyone applauded and admired… be in the top… the elite…

"_That would be so cool"_ the boy thought, envious. Sometimes, he just wished he and his Tou-chan could switch places.

Naruto spotted Sasuke in the middle of the crowd and walked towards him with a big smile on his face.

"Hey, Sasuke!" the blond ninja exclaimed happily, oblivious to the other people's stares of admiration. Moving towards the person whose opinion mattered the most. "Were you watching? Was I good?"

"You were great, Tou-chan" Sasuke said. Naruto was always great no matter what he did... How could he understand what was like being weak and unnoticed like Sasuke felt right now? No, his Dad could never understand his feelings.

The blond grinned and affectionately hugged Sasuke. The raven blushed in shame and pushed his father way.

"Tou-chan! Not in front of _everybody_!" the boy cried.

"Ah? Why are you so embarrassed?" Naruto said, letting go of Sasuke. "What's wrong with a hug? All parents hug their kids and I love to be with my little boy. You used to ran into my lap and ask for a hug all the time."

Sasuke was absolutely outraged. Why did Naruto have to say that now when they were surrounded by all his classmates and that asshole Riku? Did he really want to make Sasuke look like a complete loser on purpose?

"That was before! I'm a lot older now, Dad!" the raven said, trying to prove to everybody how mature he was. "I'm _**not**_ your little boy anymore, so stop treating me like one, okay? It's embarassing."

Naruto blinked and moved away from Sasuke.

"Sorry, Sasuke. You're right. I didn't mean to embarrass you" the 24 year old blond said, smiling softly.

Sasuke couldn't understand Naruto's need to be with him. He never had a real family before, he had always been alone and rejected by almost everyone who knew him. Now that he had his son... now that _Sasuke_ was his son, all he wanted was to be with him. But maybe, trying to keep Sasuke close to him was only pushing him further away…

Unlike Sasuke, Riku noticed the sadness and the hurt in Naruto's blue eyes, although the blond tried to hide it with a smile. Gosh… Sasuke was really dense! Riku knew he and Naruto had a different bond than most parents and children had. It wasn't weaker; it was strong and different though he couldn't say why. And if Sasuke wasn't so damn concerned trying to look cool and independent he would notice that he was hurting the person who loved him the most. Stupid douchebag!

"You were really awesome, Uncle Naruto" Riku said. "None of the samurais stood a chance against that chakra sphere jutsu."

Sasuke widened his onyx eyes and glared at Riku. Why the hell did he keep calling Naruto _Uncle_? He wasn't his nephew! And why did Tou-chan seem completely okay with that?

"Thanks, Riku" Naruto answered, more lively. "That jutsu is called _Rasengan_. My Dad invented it."

"Really? It looks really powerful!" Riku said, noticing Sasuke about to burst with jealousy. "Maybe you could teach me sometime, Uncle."

"Sure" Naruto said. "I would love to."

As Sasuke pouted angrily, they all heard a strange sound. Everybody started whispering, trying to found the origin of the noise.

"Over there!" a man screamed. "In the sky!"

And sure enough, there was a huge metal _thing_ on the sky! Nobody had ever seen something like it. It looked like a weird boat and it was landing right there in the District!

Immediately, all warriors got ready to fight whatever was inside the metal thing. Naruto stood in front of Sasuke, Riku and the other children, ready to protect them. Sasuke didn't even notice that he had grabbed his father's jersey.

The flying machine landed and a metal door opened slowly. As soon as everybody was ready to attack whatever was inside it, a white flag came out of the door.

"Don't attack! We're not enemies!" a man's voice cried, waving the white flag back and forth. "We came in peace! Please, don't attack! We came looking for Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto widened his blue eyes, completely taken aback. As he started walking towards the machine, Sasuke grabbed his orange sweater tighter.

"Tou-chan, no…" the raven boy pleaded, afraid that whatever was inside that thing could hurt Daddy.

"It's okay, Sasuke" Naruto said, approaching the unknown machine. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Who are you?"

The door opened completely and an orange haired man with huge round eyes came out, followed by an old man with glasses.

"Eh? Are you Naruto-kun?" the younger man asked, looking at the blond from top to bottom.

"Ah… yes…" Naruto answered, confused.

"Unbelievable! Look how you've grown!" the man said with a big smile.

"He sure looks like the hero we've heard so much about" the old man said, smoking his green pipe. "Yes… he would be perfect for the role of a hero."

Naruto looked at them even more confused.

"I'm sorry, Jii-chan but… do I know you?" he asked.

"Eh? You don't remember us? That's disappointing…" the younger man said, touching his cap.

"That's normal" the old man said. "He went on a mission with us for only a few weeks for over ten years ago."

"A mission?" Naruto repeated, looking at the two men more closely. He felt that he had seen them somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place it.

"I've been meaning to thank you for a long time" the old man continued. "Thanks to you, I made the best movie in my career. You surely made that _happy ending_ a reality."

"Oh! I remember!" Naruto cried. "You're the guys who made movie with Fūun-hime!"

"Exactly!" the younger man said. "So you do remember."

"Are you kidding? Of course I remember" the blond ninja answered. How could he forget the mission where he had to protect his favorite actress from her uncle? "How is Nee-chan? I've seen all of her movies! Did she turn the Snow Country into the Spring Country like she wanted?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" the director said.

"Huh?"

"We came because your Hokage told us you here living here" the younger man said. "We came because Yukie invited you to attend the official opening ceremony of the new Spring Country."

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><p><strong>I had two main ideas for the time-travel story. It was really hard to decide which one I would choose… Well, I ended up picking this one. <strong>

**I might write the other idea as an alternate version to this story if I have time. Let's see…**

**Still, I hope you like this version. **


	3. Red Storm

**Oh my God… I hope after this chapter you guys won't stop reading this story, because I've seen that many of ****you are expecting something entirely different of what I had in mind.**

**Anyway, the time-travel is finally here. Also, I don't hate Sakura but I think her character was very bitchy in the series beginning, so I just hope I'm keeping her in character.**

**I hope you like this… nevertheless.**

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><p><strong>Red Storm<strong>

赤の嵐 _(Aka no arashi)_

One hour later, Sasuke was looking at the ocean through the window of the weird metal machine. They were flying! Actually flying! It looked like a dream!

"I can't believe I'm really flying!" Naruto said, excitedly. Apparently, he and Sasuke had been thinking the same thing ever since they got on board. "This machine looks so heavy. How does it fly?"

"This machine it's called an airplane" a man with the Kazahana crest on his back said. "Ever since the Queen came back, our country developed hundreds of machines. This airplane it's just one of them."

"Really?" Naruto said. "I bet Nee-chan is a great Queen. I was happy that she didn't stop acting."

"Of course she wouldn't stop" the director said, looking satisfied. "She was born to be an actress, not only a princess or a Queen."

"So you guys kept making movies with her?"

"It wasn't always easy, but Yukie never gave up. She wanted to rule her country as much as she wanted to act" the old man, winked his eye. "She learned that from you, the hero who never gave up."

"It wasn't just me" the blond said. "If it hadn't been for my sensei and my teammates, I would have died right there."

"You're right. Yukie actually wanted to invite them here as well, but your Hokage said they couldn't come. That's too bad, we all wanted to see them again. After ten years, we can't even remember how they looked like."

Sasuke got away from the window and sat next to Naruto, listening to the grownups telling how amazing he had been when he fought against the Queen's evil uncle. It was typical. Naruto was always the great hero wherever he went. Sasuke knew he shouldn't, he could help it and feel jealous. His life looked so boring next to his father's.

A few hours later, they finally spotted the Spring Country. It was a beautiful city, surrounded by green mountains and fields. As they landed, Naruto and Sasuke noticed that most gardens and trees were in bloom.

"Wow! So many flowers" Naruto said. "This place has really changed."

"What do you mean, Tou-chan?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto turned to his son and smiled. Of course Sasuke wouldn't remember that he had also been there and fought against that bastard who kidnapped Koyuki. One day, Naruto would tell him every single adventure that had together.

"The last time I was in this country, it was called the Snow Country because it was always winter and everything was covered in ice" Naruto told his son, picking him up so the boy could see through the window.

"Really? But it's all green now" Sasuke answered, looking at the green forests that surrounded the city. "How did it become like this?"

"Well… I can't really explain it. All I know is that the Princess's Tou-chan had built a huge heat generator to turn winter into spring, and it looks like it worked."

When the plane landed and they finally got out, Sasuke saw hundreds of people waiting for them or, more exactly, waiting for Naruto. People cheered and waved their hands in the air as Naruto walked away from the airplane. Overwhelmed by so many people that he didn't know, Sasuke grabbed his father's warm hand and walked closer to him.

"Welcome back, Naruto."

A young woman walked towards them, surrounded by her maids and bodyguards. She was wearing an elaborate green kimono and her black her was tied in a ponytail. However, what stood out the most was her huge pregnant belly.

"Nee-chan! You look… big" Naruto, king of the inappropriate, said.

Koyuki laughed and walked closer to the boy who had saved both her life and her heart.

"There's no doubt. It's really you, Naruto" she said, eyeing him. "I can't believe this. You look so tall and mature! I knew you'd be an adult by know, but in my mind I could only see that hotheaded brat you were. Now look at you! You look like a movie star."

"You look great too, Nee-chan" Naruto said, still feeling a bit weird. Last time they met, he had to look up to face her, now he had to look down. "You're still very cute… and… ah… congratulations… I didn't know you were having a baby. That's… huge!"

Koyuki rubbed her belly tenderly.

"Yeah" she said. "I got married three years ago and I've finally decided to start my own family. After all, this country needs an heir when I'm gone, right?"

"I bet he or she will be so awesome like you, Nee-chan!"

Koyuki smiled and finally noticed the young boy who was hiding behind Naruto. As soon as her blue eyes met his, Sasuke leaned his face against Naruto's coat, blushing.

"My, my… And who might you be, young man?" Koyuki asked the shy boy.

Naruto was a bit afraid that Koyuki might recognize the boy as his former teammate, but pushed Sasuke forward nevertheless.

"My name is Sasuke" the raven said, bowing. People were supposed to bow in front of a Queen, right? "It's… an honor to meet you, Your Highness."

"Oh! Nice to meet you too" Koyuki said with a big smile, thinking how cute and adorable the boy was. "What a fine young man... Are you Naruto's student or something?"

Naruto put a hand on the raven haired boy's head with a huge grin.

"No. He's my son" the blond said proudly.

"Ah?" Koyuki's eyes became impossibly wide. "A son? You… you can't have a son. You're just a kid!"

"But I do" Naruto smirked.

"Well… that is quite a surprise" the Queen said. "How old are you, Sasuke?"

"I'm six years old, Your Highness" the raven answered.

Koyuki nodded. If the boy was already six that must mean Naruto had him when he still was a teenager. Considering how attractive the blond ninja had become, that shouldn't be so surprising.

"You're so polite and well-behaved" the Queen said to the child. "You must be very proud of him, Naruto."

"Of course I am" Naruto said.

After the formalities, Koyuki led Naruto and Sasuke to her palace. Her husband was in another country, but he would arrive in time for the celebrations. Finally the Snow Country would be officially renamed Spring Country.

As Naruto walked through the streets, talking to her crew and fellow actors, Koyuki looked once more at the little boy. The Queen wasn't certain, but she could have sworn that the child looked just like one of Naruto's teammates. She couldn't really remember him, it had been a long time ago and she didn't pay him a lot of an attention. He was just an attractive brooding pre-teen who fought with fire… that was all she could remember.

Giving the boy a second glance, Koyuki saw Sasuke laughing when Naruto said something and grabbing his hand tighter when a stranger came to meet them.

"_No"_ the actress thought. _"He doesn't resemble that guy at all."_

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><p>At night, Sasuke's feet were killing him so he asked to be excused and went to his and his father's chambers. Queen Koyuki wasn't expecting him, but Naruto's room was so big that they could easily sleep on the same bed.<p>

Like always, Naruto had stayed at the party, laughing and being praised like he always was. Everywhere they went, the blond could easily make friends even if they didn't know about his achievements. People were naturally drawn to him, like planets to a star.

There was no doubt, Naruto was a star.

Sasuke opened the window and sat at the veranda, watching the sunset. He wanted to train, but that would be considered rude since they were guests on a palace.

As the sun disappeared behind the mountains, the raven thought on how far he was behind Naruto. Even after training for a year, his Katon was still very weak and he still wasn't able to beat Riku.

One of his biggest dreams was to become an amazing shinobi, someone so incredible that everybody would acknowledge him, especially his Dad. He wanted to be strong enough to go missions with him and then, when Naruto was named Hokage, Sasuke would be an ANBU, protecting Konoha and the Hokage from the shadows.

When Sasuke was younger, and didn't know that Naruto was a ninja, he thought that his father was just a silly and weak man. So the raven vowed he would become an awesome ninja and protect him from whoever tried to hurt him.

Thinking back, Sasuke felt really stupid. Naruto didn't need protection; he was one of the most powerful shinobi in the planet! The one who always needed saving was Sasuke because he was still a scrawny Academy Student.

"_I wish was cool, strong and popular"_ the boy thought, looking at the first stars in the sky. _"I wish I was perfect at everything I did. I wish I was stronger than Tou-chan. I wish… I was a ninja now."_

"So here you are!"

Sasuke turned around and saw Naruto entering their bedroom and throw his coat to a chair before sitting next to Sasuke. The raven didn't say anything and stared at the mountains once more.

"I was wondering why you left" the blond continued. "You didn't even eat the desert… and it's chocolate ice-cream."

"I'm not hungry" the raven answered, without looking at him. "Shouldn't you go back? People will start looking for you."

"I think I've never talked with so many people before, I'm a bit tired. Besides, it's no fun when you're not there."

Sasuke pulled his knees to his chin, trying to hide his sulk.

"That party is for you, not me" the little boy said. "You should go back."

Naruto's smile faded from his face and he finally noticed his son's pouting.

"Sasuke? Is something wrong?"

"No… I'm just tired" the raven mumbled. "Also, it doesn't matter if I'm not there. I'm not important or a hero… you're the one who matters. People won't even notice if I'm not there."

Naruto blinked, finally understanding what was happening.

"Sasuke… don't say that. Of course, you're important. You're the most important person in the world to me. I would notice right away if you weren't there."

"But it's just you!" the boy grumbled, looking at Naruto with his angry black eyes. "Apart from you, no one would care if I wasn't there because I'm not a famous, strong shinobi. No one cares about a stupid dumb kid who wants to be a ninja."

Naruto moved closer to his son.

"It's not all about power, Sasuke. Being strong and famous is not the same thing as being acknowledged. When I was younger, I was really weak… and dumb."

"Yeah, right…" Sasuke mumbled sarcastically.

"I'm serious. The thing is, I never quit" Naruto continued. "I kept trying until…"

"Tou-chan, stop it! I know you're just saying that so I'll feel better, but I'm not!" Sasuke interrupted. "You were always strong, everybody says so! Nobody even notices me when you're around. I'm like a shadow! I'm not powerful or amazing like you… I'm just your weak _**adopted son!**_" Sasuke looked at his hands, unable to face Naruto's blue eyes. "My life sucks!"

For a few seconds, neither of them said anything. Sasuke's words lingering in their heads like a painful echo. Naruto lowered his face sadly, unsure about what to say. This was he had been afraid of… that Sasuke would grow to resent him like he resented Itachi during his first childhood and then Naruto when he started to grow stronger.

"Is your life really that awful, Sasuke? Do you wish I wasn't here at all?" the blond whispered, so softly, that Sasuke wasn't sure he heard him right.

The raven just hugged his legs tighter and refused to look at Naruto.

"I'm sorry you feel that way…" Naruto said.

The sound of a huge blast made the floor tremble and people started screaming outside. Naruto leaned against the balcony and saw smoke coming from one of the buildings.

"What the hell…?" the blond said.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked, looking at the rising flames.

The guards started running towards the fire's direction. Yelling orders at each other about an attack and they had to evacuate the Queen out of the castle.

"An attack?" Naruto repeated, ready to join them.

"Tou-chan? You're going with them?" Sasuke asked.

"If it is an attack, I have to help" the blond answered, staring at his son. "Sasuke, go with the Queen and the others!"

"What? No way! I want to help you! I can fight!" the raven cried.

"I don't know what kind of enemy this is" Naruto said, dead serious. "I can't just let you go. Do as I say and go hide somewhere safe!"

Before Sasuke could respond, Naruto jumped into the balcony bellow them and then to the streets.

It was always like this! Naruto could go and fight any enemy while Sasuke was always told to stay behind, run and hide. He was so sick of this! Why didn't his father trust him? How was Sasuke supposed to prove himself worthy when no one would ever give him a chance to fight and prove his abilities? It didn't matter that people said that he was talented or that he'd definitely be a great ninja one day if they never gave him a chance to prove it!

Gnashing his teeth, Sasuke jumped to the balcony below and followed Naruto.

* * *

><p>Naruto could already see the corpses on the ground and the blood. Whoever was attacking the palace had managed to kill the guards first.<p>

"Naruto-sama!" one of the guards said when he saw the blond coming.

"Where's the enemy?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not sure. Whoever it was is really fast! He killed four of us in less than a minute!"

Naruto looked around, but it was no use. The smoke was too thick. He would have to enter Sage Mode or the Kyuubi Chakra Mode if he wanted to find the enemy.

"Well, well, well… You grew up quite nicely, didn't you boy?" a croaky female voice spoke through the smoke.

"Who are you?" Naruto yelled. "Show yourself!"

The old woman appeared on top of a wall. She was… hideous! A bald old hag with wrinkles in her wrinkles and an almost toothless mouth.

"Eh! Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked.

"You don't recognize me, huh? That's not surprising… since it was you who stole my beauty, you hateful brat!" the woman growled in anger.

"What the fuck are you talking about? I never met you!"

"You destroyed my beautiful bodies!" the woman continued. "And you destroyed my gorgeous hair! A woman's hair is her life! Does it ring any bells for you?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he finally remembered the creepy vixen who kept trying to kiss him so she could steal his wind chakra and his body. He had managed to kill her because her soul was in her hair. Or so he thought…

"It's you!" Naruto yelled. "You're that weird old hag that tried to destroy Konoha! How come you're still alive?"

"Eh! I kept my original body in a safe place" Fuka said with an angry grin. "Because of you I lost my beauty. Now, I'm gonna make you pay!"

"Bring it on!" Naruto thought. "I defeated you once, I can do it again!"

"Oh! I'm not here to fight you" Fuka said. "I came here to tell you goodbye."

"What?"

"Everything is in place. What I'm about to do can't be stopped!"

"What are you talking about? What do want?"

"I'm just a Bunshin" she revealed. "My real self is about to destroy your life forever. I'm just here to see it happen."

Naruto was staring at her when he saw him. Sasuke was coming right behind Fuka, with a kunai he had picked up from the ground.

"_No, Sasuke!"_ Naruto thought, as his heart skipped a beat. _"What are you doing here? I told you to run!"_

Sasuke continued to walk silently towards the old hag who was obviously the enemy. The raven could see his father's eyes wide with fear, but soon Sasuke would show Naruto how reliable and strong he was. All he had to do was to stab that woman!

The boy was a few meters away from her, when his feet hit a small pebble.

"_Damn it!"_ the boy thought, but it was too late. The old woman turned around and, quick as a viper, she grabbed Sasuke by his neck and held him with his own kunai against his throat.

"What do we have here?" Fuka sneered. "A small hero, huh?"

Sasuke tried to get free but the kunai was too close to his neck. The raven's black eyes stared at Naruto's, both filled with fear. Sasuke couldn't believe this… he had screw up everything!

"Let him go!" Naruto yelled. "It's me that you want, not him! You can't do anything to me, just let him go!"

"Tou-chan…" Sasuke whispered, fighting for breath.

Unfortunately, Fuka heard him.

"What? Is this kid your son?" she asked. Naruto's glare was answer enough. "Who would have thought it? You had a child? Well… congratulations, he's really cute. Too bad he won't be alive for long."

Naruto moved but Fuka pressed the kunai harder against Sasuke's neck.

"Don't you dare move. You might be fast, but I'll cut his pretty little head off before you can reach us" she said, her eyes shining with madness. "I wasn't planning this at all, but I guess plans can always change" and she threw a paralyzing gas bomb at Naruto.

The blond felt all his muscles paralyzed and could not stop coughing. When he finally got into Kyuubi Chakra Mode, he realized that Fuka had disappeared into the woods, taking Sasuke with her.

* * *

><p>Sasuke tried to fight and get free from the old hag's grasp but, before he could, he felt something heavy on the back of his head and his head became very dizzy.<p>

He could see trees under him and heard the old woman say something with that horrible grin of hers. Then everything became blurred and black.

"_Daddy, I'm sorry… I just wanted to help you… I wanted to show you that I could fight."_

Sasuke felt his body being carelessly thrown into the ground and his hands tied with a rope behind his back. The woman kept talking to him, but he couldn't hear her right… his head felt so dizzy…

"Too bad kid… If you weren't there… my revenge will be complete" she said, through Sasuke's lapses. "When this is over… Naruto finally dead… you'll never been born…"

Tou-chan? Where was he? Was this a nightmare? Sasuke just wanted to wake up…

The raven's head hurt so much. Had she hit him? He wasn't sure. All he could see now was that old hag leaving him in the stone floor of some sort of old room, with huge statues of strange women with lots of arms and legs.

"_Tou-chan…__ I screw up… I'm not good enough. I'll never be as amazing as you are…"_

Fuka got closer to the main statue in the temple and grabbed the red jewel that her stone arms held, the only valuable thing it the whole temple. Then, she started making the hand seals and the writing on the walls turned bright read and started moving towards her, like the words were alive.

"I hereby sacrifice my body in exchange for the gift of time" Fuka yelled at the glowing walls and the red jewel she put around her own neck. "Take me back to my former glory. Give me my previous power and beauty! Let this old and withered body be the sacrifice."

Fuka's body started to glow and the red light started moving towards Sasuke.

"_I just wish I was cool, strong and popular"_ the boy thought. _"I wish I was a great shinobi."_

The light engulfed Sasuke and everything disappeared.

* * *

><p><strong><em>12 years <em>_in the Past_**

"Na-ru-to…" Sakura said slowly through her teeth. "YOU FREAKING IDIOT! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

"Eh… Sakura-chan… I'm sorry, I was just trying to help" the twelve year old blond said meekly. Behind them was a completely destroyed warehouse, courtesy of Uzumaki Naruto.

Team 7 had been assigned to deliver the goods from Konoha to a merchant who lived a few miles away from the village, in a small town. The mission was simple: all they had to do was place the goods in the shelves until Naruto decided he could do it a lot faster using his clones. As a result, the warehouse was suddenly filled with hundreds of Narutos who appeared everywhere and smashed the wooden boxes, destroyed the shelves and ruined the goods.

The owner was so mad that Kakashi had tried to calm him down for almost an hour. Meanwhile, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were in the warehouse, staring at the mess.

"You complete moron!" Sakura kept screaming in fury. "You ruined the mission! That guy said he was never going to hire Konoha ninja again because of the mess you made!"

"I'm really sorry, Sakura-chan" Naruto said again, feeling horrible. All he wanted was to impress her and prove that he was better than that bastard Sasuke but, like always he had messed up.

"We spent _**three hours**_ packing all the goods and you destroyed everything in one minute" the pink haired girl shrieked. "Not only did you tear down my half, but you ruined Sasuke-kun's work as well!"

Naruto glared at Sasuke who, in turn, glared back at him. Like always, that raven bastard had made everything right and perfect. God, Naruto hated him! Too bad one of the boxes didn't fell right on top of him!

"As expected from the Dead-Last" Sasuke said, crossing his arms over his chest. "All you ever do is screw up."

"What did you say, teme?" the blond yelled.

"Hard on hearing, usuratonkachi?"

"Why you son of a…" as Naruto moved closer to Sasuke, Sakura slapped him right in the face, making him fly across the floor.

"Stop annoying Sasuke-kun, you baka!" she said. "He's completely right! You always screw up everything and we have to pay for it as well! God, I really hate you!"

Naruto got up from the floor, looking sadly at Sakura. No matter what he did, she would always take Sasuke's side.

"Sometimes I wonder why Iruka ever let you graduate" the Uchiha continued, bitterly. "It was definitely a mistake."

"Shut up, bastard!" Naruto yelled, blushing with anger. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm not the loser who keeps messing up all our missions" the raven answered back.

As the blond tried to attack Sasuke, Kakashi conveniently appeared and grabbed him by his shoulders.

"Stop that, Naruto. You've caused enough chaos" their sensei said. "I've talked with the merchant and we came to an agreement. Naruto will pay for all the damages he made and complete the mission on his own. With **no clones**."

"What?" Naruto cried. "But Kakashi-sensei…"

"No _buts_. Let it be a lesson to you" Kakashi said, staring at Naruto unusually serious. "You were trying to show off and this was the result. If you had worked as a team, we wouldn't be in this mess. Honestly, I'm very disappointed with you."

Naruto's pout was immediately replaced by a sad and guilty expression. Kakashi knew his words had been harsh, but Naruto needed to learn that there were consequences for foolish acts.

"Okay, I understand…" the blond said, lowering his face.

Kakashi turned to his other two students.

"Let's go home. Once Naruto finishes the mission, we'll deliver the report."

"What? Does this mean it will be just me and Sasuke-kun for a while?" Sakura asked with hearts in her eyes.

"Naruto will probably take a few days to finish this all on his own" Kakashi said. "Meanwhile, we'll train."

Sakura was about to burst with happiness. Finally she and Sasuke would finally be alone, without that stupid Naruto always getting in her way. It was like a dream come true.

As for Sasuke, he looked very pleased as well.

"Hmph… This might be a good opportunity to train" the raven said, as Naruto glared angrily at him. "No nuisances…"

"You son of a bitch!" Naruto growled.

"Let's go!" Kakashi said, jumping to the nearest branch and soon followed by his two students.

Naruto picked up a broom and started cleaning the mess he made, wishing he could just punch Sasuke in the face. He would show him! He was going to prove him that he was a great ninja and beat him so bad that bastard was going to beg for mercy! No matter what, Naruto was gonna beat Sasuke, become Hokage and show everybody they had been wrong about him. He wasn't a screw up!

As he was sweeping, the blond could hear the owner of the warehouse clearly on the other side of the building, talking to someone.

"The damn kid destroyed all my stock. I've never seen such an incompetent person all my life!" the man said. "Seriously, I can believe they ever let someone like him become a ninja. That kid is a complete disaster! I hope they'll make him quit, he's without a doubt, the worst ninja I've ever seen."

Shaking, Naruto grabbed the broom tighter.

* * *

><p>When they reached Konoha, the sky had become completely filled with dark clouds. A huge thunderstorm was coming.<p>

"Well… Until Naruto finishes the mission, we'll continue to train" Kakashi announced, ready to go home before the rain started. "We'll meet tomorrow morning, at seven a.m. near the bridge. Don't be late!"

With a puff of white smoke, the gray haired sensei disappeared.

"Ne… Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, smiling. "We haven't eaten anything all afternoon. Do you want to come with me and eat something?"

"I'll pass" the raven said, turning around and walking home.

Disappointed, Sakura looked at Sasuke until he disappeared from her view. But she still had a few days before Naruto returned, she would have plenty of opportunities to make him notice her and win over his heart. Without Naruto on her away, she would absolutely make Sasuke fall in love with her.

Much more lively, Sakura went home. She needed to wash and comb her long hair for tomorrow.

* * *

><p>When Sasuke got home, he immediately undressed and took a quick shower. After eating a healthy meal, the raven decided to read a few scrolls before he went to bed. Outside it was pouring rain. He didn't feel like training with such a bad weather. His mood was bad as it was.<p>

At least he was going to get rid of Naruto for a few days. That moron was always screwing up their missions and that was probably the reason why they didn't give them harder ones. Sasuke needed power to kill his brother, how was he gonna get it when that dropout was always dragging down with him? That idiot was just a nuisance!

Sakura wasn't better. That girl was actually weaker than Naruto and just as annoying. Sasuke was going to try and convince Kakashi to give him a particular training, which was the only way he could really learn something useful.

After putting on a dark-blue shirt and his black pants, Sasuke took his scrolls to his bedroom and read them in his bed. The storm outside was getting stronger and after a huge thunder the power went out.

"Damn it!" Sasuke cursed. The raven was about to stand up from his bed to check the fuses when he saw that the sky was shinning red. "What the…?"

As a red thunder appeared right in front of his bedroom, Sasuke's eyes became blurred and his body shone with a red ethereal light. A few seconds later, his body stopped shinning and the raven collapsed on his bed.

_I wish was cool, strong and popular_

_I wish I was perfect at everything I did_

_I wish I was stronger than Tou-chan_

_I wish… I was a ninja now_

Outside, as quickly as it had started, the storm stopped and the dark clouds vanished, leaving only the beautiful starry sky.

* * *

><p><strong>Like I said, I had two ideas in mind: one was making Sasuke possess his previous body, the other was, like many of you assumed, send little Sasuke into the past. I've decided to do the first option, because I<strong>** already had an ending on my mind.**

**It was a very tough call and I hope you like this story nonetheless.**

**I could also write the other idea as an alternate version but I'm afraid, like ****sugargirl89**** said, that if I don't focus on this story and divide my efforts, both stories might suffer from it.**

**So maybe I could write the alternate story once I finish this one and if I feel that I can.**

**What do you think?**

**Thanks for reading! See ya!**


	4. Past

**Hi! I've decided to finish this story first before I decide if I feel like making the alternative version. With college and everything, I really think it's the best solution.**

**Also, this is a side-story. It would be very anti-climatic if Sasuke found out about his past not on the main story, don't you think? Besides I already have plans for that.**

**Anyway… be ready for a very OOC Sasuke. Should we think of this as little future Sasuke taking over Uchiha Sasuke's body? Or Naruto's future son taking over his rival/best friend's body?**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Past<strong>

過去 _(Kako)_

Sakura spent nearly four hours bathing, combing her hair, deciding which perfume she should use and rehearsed, at least, ten different conversations she could have with Sasuke.

At night, she had fallen asleep and dreamed about their future dates, their first kiss (that one with Naruto didn't count!) and how Sasuke would finally tell her that he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He would say that he had always noticed her, but was afraid to confess his feelings, that none of the other girls ever mattered, that Sakura had always been the one. When she had woken up to the sound of her alarm clock, she was kissing her pillow.

Determined to make her dream turn into a reality, Sakura barely ate her breakfast and walked to their meeting spot ten minutes earlier, so she could mentally prepare herself. However, at 7 a. m. Sasuke wasn't there yet. She kept waiting and waiting, but after two and a half hours she was still the only one on the bridge. It wasn't so surprising for Kakashi, since he was _**always**_ late, but Sasuke…

"_What is happening? Why isn't Sasuke-kun here__ yet? He's never late!"_

"Good morning!" Kakashi said, appearing out of nowhere like usual.

"Sensei! You're late!" Sakura cried, fuming with frustration that her plans to seduce Sasuke had once again been foiled.

"Sorry, sorry… I wanted to make my bed, but I couldn't find the sheets."

"YOU'RE LYING!" Sakura yelled, though she had to admit the scream would have been much more effective if Naruto was there as well.

Kakashi looked around and noticed the absence of his brooding student. "What? Sasuke isn't here yet?"

Sakura's angry grimace vanished from her face, replaced by genuine concern.

"No… Sasuke didn't show up" she said, with tears in her eyes. "I don't understand. He's never late! What if something happened to him? Maybe he's sick or…?"

"Don't worry, Sakura" Kakashi said. "I'm sure nothing happened. Sasuke must have overslept or something. I'll go to his house to see if he's there. Why don't you take a look around? He's probably just late."

"Oh… Ok…" Sakura answered.

"See you later" the copy ninja said, jumping to the nearest tree branch.

Kakashi tried to stay calm but he was bit anxious. Last night's storm wasn't normal. It was overflowing with an odd chakra, like it had been the result of some jutsu. After that strange red lightning, the storm had completely disappeared like it never happened.

Besides, Kakashi could have sworn that the lightning had been right above the Uchiha Compound. Was there a connection between Sasuke's delay and the storm? Well… the only way to find out was to locate the genius Uchiha first.

* * *

><p>When the light from the window reached his bed, Sasuke turned around and tried to ignore it. The alarm clock had already gone off, but the raven had simply thrown it down the bedside table and kept sleeping. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that to the morning sunlight.<p>

"Hmm…" the boy moaned, grabbing his pillow and covering his head with it. His head felt funny. It was… heavier, like he had a bad night of sleep or something.

Probably, his Dad had opened the blinds and the curtains to wake him up. In a few seconds, Naruto would come to his side and shake him until Sasuke got up.

"Tou-chan… just five more minutes" Sasuke mumbled, still covering his head with the pillow. He knew he had to get up quickly or he would have to go to school without his breakfast.

As he tried to hide from the bright light of the sun, Sasuke continued moving until he fell down the bed with a huge thud.

"Ow!" the raven cried, rubbing his sore head. "Floor… hurts…"

Rubbing his eyes, Sasuke got up and walked to what he thought was his bedroom door. Instead, he went against a wall.

"OW! What the hell…?" he yelled, staring at an unknown white wall. Looking around, he realized he wasn't his bedroom. He didn't recognize this room at all. "Where… am I?"

Apprehensively, Sasuke walked towards this bedroom's door and opened it.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" the boy called to the empty hall, but no one answered. "Tou-chan? Are you there?"

After a few seconds of silence, Sasuke walked into the hall. His voice sounded a little different and his body seemed strange too, but the boy was more worried in finding out where he was.

One thing was certain, the house was huge! Perhaps it was even bigger than the house the Sanada leader had lent them. There were a lot of rooms, but they were all empty and filled with dust, like no one had step a foot on them in years.

"_Where am I? Whose house is this?"_ the raven thought, coming down the stairs into the entrance hall.

Though he had the feeling he had been in this house before, Sasuke couldn't understand what he was doing there. When he looked outside the window he saw an empty street and several houses which looked abandoned, with wooden boards covering all their windows and doors. What was this place? A ghost town? Who would want to live in a place like this? And where was he? This was definitely not the Unmei Islands, and his Dad would never leave him alone in a stranger's house…

That was when it all came back rushing back into Sasuke's mind. The invitation to the Spring Country, the meeting with the Queen, the party, the attack, that weird old hag who had taken him…

"_That's it!"_ Sasuke thought. _"She took me hostage and hit me in the head. I can't really remember what happened next… I think we were in a cave or a temple, and then…"_

That was it. Sasuke couldn't remember anything else, no matter how hard he tried. Since he was safe and sound, he was probably rescued by someone and taken into their house. But why would they leave him alone in this house? And where was Naruto?

"Hello? Is anyone out there?" Sasuke called again, coughing a little because his voice sounded a bit lower than usual. "I'm… Thank you for taking care of me, but I really need to go home now… my Dad must be worried" still there was no answer. Sasuke was completely alone in that house.

When he finally stumbled upon a bathroom, Sasuke decided to wash his sleepy face. He guessed it would be okay to use it since the people who lived in this house had let him sleep in one of their beds. Sasuke found it strange that the toilet seemed a bit smaller than it used to be, as well as the sink. When the raven washed his hands and then his face, he finally stared into the mirror.

Instead of the innocent face of a six year old child, he stared at the confused face of a pre-teen.

"Wha… what the…?" Sasuke touched the mirror, his face and looked down at his taller body. "What the hell is going on?" he screamed. To his dismay, the guy in the mirror did the same.

After pinching his cheek, the raven realized that this wasn't a dream. He was really the older boy in the mirror. He had grown older… _again_! **(1)**

"No! Not again!" the raven said to the mirror, still getting used to his slightly adult voice. "Why did this happen? I didn't do anything!"

Worried, Sasuke went back to "his" bedroom, hoping to find some clues about what had happened to him and where he was. The bedroom had a full-body mirror and he decided see himself.

From what he could see, he wasn't as old or as tall as the last time. He couldn't really tell, but he guessed he was a bit older than a ten year old. Curious, he took off his clothes until he was in his boxers and checked his longer arms and legs, which had a bit of muscle on them. Blushing, he pulled down his boxers. Yup… he had hair there.

"Who did this to me?" the boy said. "Was it that old woman? Where is she? Where am I?"

Sasuke needed to get out of there. The best thing to do was to get out of that strange house and try to find his Tou-chan. He would recognize Sasuke (_he had to!_) and he would know what to do!

More determined, the raven pulled his boxers back up and looked around. He found a few clothes neatly folded in a chair and put on the white shorts to see if they fit him. Since they did, he also dressed a blue, short-sleeved shirt with a raised collar with a red and white fan on the back and, unconsciously, also put on the white arm warmers that were beneath the shirt. Strangely, it felt like routine, though he had never dressed like that before.

"_What I am doing? I have to get out of here!"_

After putting white bands around his legs, Sasuke looked at his bedside table and saw it. The Hitai-ate.

"_What?"_ the raven thought, moving towards the bedside table and picking up the short blue-clothed forehead protector. _"What is a Hitai-ate doing here?"_

The boy's onyx eyes became even wider as he saw the unmistakable leaf in the metal plate. This was a headband from Konohagakure.

"_Whose Hitai-ate is this? Tou-chan's has a black cloth, so it's not his… but then whose is it?"_

As if by fate, the sunlight shone upon the metal plate, drawing Sasuke's attention towards the window. Still with the headband on his hand, Sasuke looked out the window and his jaw completely dropped.

Outside, towering over thousands of buildings was the Hokage Mountain. A place he had only seen in photos and heard his father, Tsunade and Iruka talk about. And he knew it only existed in Konoha!

"I'm in Konoha?" Sasuke said in disbelief, unable to divert his eyes from the Monument he had wished to see with his own eyes for years. "How come I'm in Konoha? That's miles away from our home! How…" the raven finally noticed something different about the Mountain.

In the photos that Tsunade had brought him, so he could know his future village, there were clearly five heads carved in the stone, each representing a Hokage. Right now, Sasuke could only see four heads. Tsunade's head was missing from the mountain. The last carved head was of his grandpa Minato.

"How come Baa-chan's head disappeared?" Sasuke asked. "What is going on? Is this really Konoha or I am still dreaming?"

Sasuke's hand touched something on his wardrobe which fell down. It was a wooden photo frame.

"What is this?" carefully, the raven picked up the frame and looked at the photo. The first person who caught his attention was a boy dressed in the clothes he was wearing right now, who had the same eyes, same hair and the same face as he did.

Sasuke saw a picture of himself as an older boy. The boy he looked like now.

"Is this… me?" the raven asked to the silent picture.

Glancing back at the mirror, Sasuke compared the two images. There was no doubt; the boy on the picture _was_ him! They looked exactly the same, minus the headband which, Sasuke realized, was the one he was holding in his hands. Even their hairstyle was the same, while Sasuke usually kept his bangs hang over his forehead, now his bangs hung both sides of his face to roughly frame his cheeks.

Increasingly intrigued, the raven kept staring at his photo. He couldn't remember taking that photo and he didn't recognize the people in it either. There was a man with a mask covering half his face behind him, with his hand on Sasuke's head; a pink haired girl smiling and a blond boy who was glaring at him.

"_Who are these people?__ Why am I with them?"_

With his heart racing like crazy, Sasuke opened some of the drawers of his wardrobe. He found more clothes, all with dark colors and the same fan crest on each shirt and sweater, papers about jutsus and a few scrolls about the Katon. One of the scrolls was the same he had back home about the Great Fireball Technique and he also found other scroll about the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, which seemed a lot stronger.

Then he found the other photos.

They were at the very bottom of the drawer, under several scrolls. Sasuke picked them up and saw photos of his biological parents, Fugaku and Mikoto, next to a little raven haired boy. It wasn't hard for Sasuke to realize that boy was him as well.

The first photo had Sasuke and his mother together in a garden. In that picture, the raven couldn't have been older than three years old. There were other photos, in which Sasuke saw himself getting older next to his parents in the house he was right now. When he found a picture of himself next to his father, near a building with red tiles, Sasuke was the exact same age he really was.

The idea hit him like a rock. He was in a Konoha where Tsunade's head was missing from the Hokage Mountain, he looked older, he had woken up in a house where there were clothes that fit him and had pictures of him and his deceased parents…

"This is _my_ room" the boy said slowly, looking around. "This was the house where I lived before" he looked once again at the picture that was on top of his wardrobe. "That was me… when I was older…"

The girl and the blond boy also had forehead protectors. And the masked man too. If Sasuke had a headband, that meant he had already graduated from the Academy and was a real ninja, which meant those people in the photo had to be his teammates and his Jōnin sensei.

"I'm in my first life?" the boy said still stunned, though he couldn't find any other explanation. Those photos were definitely his and he wasn't dreaming.

When the raven activated his Sharingan he didn't noticed anything suspicious, so it wasn't a genjutsu either. As a matter of fact, when he got closer to his mirror he noticed that his Sharingan was more evolved. It had two tomoes on his right eye and one on his left!

"Is this the past?" the boy said to his reflection. "Am I really back in my first life?"

It seemed impossible but, at the same time, he felt he was right. Now that his Sharingan was activated, the raven could feel that his chakra was a lot stronger than it used to be. His body also felt different, but it was a good different. He felt great!

As Sasuke became more convinced that he was really in his old life, his feelings of confusion and apprehension were quickly replaced by enthusiasm. He was older but he was still a kid, so he didn't need to act as an adult, and he was a ninja! That headband was his alone!

Excited, the raven got even closer to the mirror and put the Hitai-ate around his forehead. It looked… really good on him!

"I'm a shinobi" he said to his reflection with a big smile on his face. "I'm really a shinobi! This forehead protector his mine!"

This also meant, Sasuke realized, that everything in that house was also his. This room was _his_ old room; those were _his_ scrolls and _his_ clothes.

Since no one was home, probably his parents were already dead, he couldn't meet them. But his brother was alive! Sasuke really wanted to talk to him. He always had wondered what would be like if Itachi Nii-san was alive and he could hang out with his big brother. Now he could! It was gonna be so cool!

"I don't know why I came back, but I'm gonna enjoy it!" the raven haired boy said, picking a ninja pouch he found on his bedside table. Inside, there were his shuriken, kunai and scrolls. "Sweet! I have weapons too!"

Without wasting more time, Sasuke ran to the hallway, put on his blue sandals and left the house. He couldn't wait to explore Konoha.

* * *

><p>Like always, the Uchiha Compound made Kakashi feel uneasy. He understood that Sasuke didn't want to leave his home, since it would mean that the whole Compound served no purpose and it would be torn down. However, Kakashi couldn't understand how Sasuke managed to live in the same place where his parents and his clan had been massacred. Even if his house had plenty of good memories, he would always be hunted by the ghosts of his murdered family.<p>

After Sakumo committed suicide, Kakashi moved out of their house as soon as possible. The house seemed too big, too empty and too sad, constantly reminding him of his father's absence. So he brought a smaller apartment and lived there ever since. Perhaps he was being a coward. Maybe he just wanted to run away and forget about the suicide. Maybe he just wanted to forget everything related to his father. If he didn't think about him, Kakashi wouldn't feel depressed or miss him. The only thing he could do was to forget Hatake Sakumo ever existed.

Deciding not to think about the past, Kakashi stopped just outside Sasuke's door and knocked. Since there was no answer, Kakashi walked around the house, opened a window and got inside. That was the first time he did this in Sasuke's house. So far, he had only done it in Naruto's apartment because it was the only way his mischievous student would eat fresh vegetables once in a while.

Sakura had her own parents to look out for her, and Sasuke was so mature for his age that Kakashi never thought he would need to check up on him. Apparently, there was a first time for everything.

"Sasuke! It's me! I'm coming in!"

Again there was no answer, so Kakashi simply dared to go look for the raven, not caring one bit that he would be furious for his intrusion. If Sasuke had shown up on the bridge like he should, his sensei wouldn't need to go look for him.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi called as he opened the raven's bedroom door. "If you're not dressed, then cover yourself."

Sasuke wasn't in his bedroom. In fact, Kakashi was really surprised. He always thought of Sasuke as someone very tidy, but his room was a complete mess. His bed was unmade, there were scrolls and clothes scattered all over the floor and almost all of his drawers were open. This was the kind of mess he expected to find on Naruto's room, not Sasuke's.

Kakashi couldn't feel his student's chakra anywhere near, which meant Sasuke wasn't home. Remembering the strange storm again, Kakashi left the house the same way he got in and decided to search for the young Uchiha in the village. All his instincts were telling him that something wasn't right.

* * *

><p>Sasuke walked casually through the busy streets of Konoha, trying to see everything at the same time.<p>

Every time he walked by a store's window, he'd look at his reflection and admire how cool he looked with his Hitai-ate on his forehead. When he started walking again, Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and tried to look as serious and mature as possible.

"_Be cool!__ Be cool!"_ the raven thought, smiling on the inside. _"You're a shinobi now. You have to look awesome!"_

Somehow, it felt like he was pulling a prank and tricking the villagers into thinking that he really was a pre-teen. He had to try real hard not to laugh. That would ruin his _coolness_.

The village was everything he had imagined: big, warm and filled with life. Sasuke could easily imagine himself living there, the whole place seemed familiar and comfortable. Maybe that was because he had actually lived there for decades before he had been turned into a baby.

As he realized this, the raven stopped near a store.

"_Actually… how many years did I go into the past? When am I?"_

How many years had he travelled back? Twenty? Thirty? Forty? He had absolutely no idea. There were a lot of things he didn't know! He didn't know how old he was or his teammates' names. Damn! He didn't even know his name in this first life!

A bit nervous, Sasuke looked up and his eyes found the Fourth Hokage's craved head right above him. In some way, that made the raven feel more at ease. His Tou-chan resembled so much the Fourth that it felt like he was the one watching over Sasuke.

That was it! Grandpa Minato was the Hokage now. Sasuke could go and finally meet him and, maybe, he could meet grandma Kushina too. Even if they didn't believe that he was their future grandson, he couldn't miss the chance to meet his grandparents!

That also raised another pertinent question: had Naruto been born yet? If he had, that would be so weird… Sasuke was older than his Dad now! What if Grandma was pregnant with him? What if he was just a baby or a toddler? Sasuke couldn't even imagine Naruto in diapers. How strange would it be if they meet?

"Sasuke-kun!" a girl's voice called.

Without thinking, Sasuke turned around. What was he doing? He needed to be careful or people could think he was some impostor. They would never believe that he was from the future. His name probably wasn't _Sasuke_ now. Why didn't he ever ask Tou-chan about his name? He was so screwed!

"Sasuke-kun! There you are!" a pink haired girl ran in his direction and stopped right on front of him. Though she was smiling, she looked a bit tired, like she had been running around. "Thank God you're alright, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke could only blink at her.

"Sasuke_? My name is still _Sasuke_?"_ the boy thought. _"And… who is this girl?"_

"Me and Kakashi-sensei were so worried about you" the girl continued, ignoring Sasuke's confused expression. "Why didn't you show up at the bridge? Did something happen?"

Bridge? What was she talking about? Did he know this girl?

"Ah… No… I…" Sasuke stammered, trying to think of a good excuse. "I just… needed to buy something, that's all."

"Oh! That's okay" the girl said, smiling way too hard. "We should go now. Kakashi-sensei went looking for you at your house but he'll be back soon and then we can train."

As the girl got near him, Sasuke finally recognized her. It was the same girl from the photo on his wardrobe. The team photo.

"_So… she's my teammate?"_ Sasuke thought. So that meant that this _"Kakashi"_ guy was his Jōnin guide.

"Sasuke-kun? Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes… I'm fine" Sasuke said.

"Okay. So let's go!"

As they walked down the streets, the girl stood by his side, brushing against his arm constantly. Every time Sasuke stared at her, she would only smile and blush.

"_Great… another one who wants me to be her boyfriend"_ the raven thought, trying not to frown and make her suspicious. Apparently, this sort of thing also happened in his first life. _"I need her to say her name! If she's my teammate, it'll be strange that I don't know it. C'mon, just say it!"_

"I can't wait until we can train together" she said. "I hope Kakashi-sensei teaches us something cool this time."

"Ah… right" Sasuke answered. He should just act normally. After all, he was still him even if he was a little older now. All he had to do was act like a grownup.

"It would be great if we could improve our teamwork, don't you think?" she went on.

"I guess…" Sasuke answered, trying not to look at her in the eyes. He could have sworn she didn't even blink when she stared at him, it was freaky.

"I just hope sensei doesn't make us do another strange test" she said. "The one with the bells was very tricky."

"Shinobi need to train hard" Sasuke answered. "If the trainings are difficult, it's only because Kakashi-sensei wants us to be strong."

The girl stopped and stared at Sasuke with a confused expression on her face.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"You called him Kakashi-_sensei_?" she asked, very surprised. "You never called him _sensei_ before…"

Sasuke's eyes widened. He didn't call his Jōnin guide _sensei_? That was kind of rude. He always called his teachers _sensei_, even when they were jerks. Why didn't his former self do it? Maybe he had a fight with this Kakashi man… or maybe he was such a bad teacher that he didn't deserve to be called sensei. Even so, Sasuke never imagined he could be that impolite to an instructor.

The girl was still looking at him, so Sasuke had to think of another lie really fast.

"I don't… my tongue slipped" the boy said, sounding harsh. "_Kakashi's_ training better be good. We need to become stronger if we want to get better missions."

The girl seemed satisfied with his answer and started walking next to him once more.

"You're absolutely right, Sasuke-kun. I didn't want to say this in front of Kakashi-sensei, but I can't wait until we get real missions" she said, frowning. "It's all that idiot's fault! If he didn't screw up every time, I bet the Hokage-sama would give us harder missions."

"_Idiot?"_ Sasuke thought.

"Seriously… I don't understand why they placed him in our team" she kept grumbling with a scowl. "He's so stupid and reckless that he might get us all killed one day! Our team would be a lot better if it was just the two of us."

"_She must be talking about our other teammate, that blond boy who__ was glaring at me in the photo"_ Sasuke realized, a bit disappointed. _"Was this my genin team? An annoying girl and some dumb boy?"_

"You must be frustrated too, right?" she said. "You're our generation's genius after all."

Sasuke blinked.

"Genius? Me?" the amazed raven said.

"Of course! Don't be modest, Sasuke-kun. You were always so amazing in the Academy. No one could ever beat you" the pink haired girl exclaimed. "You were always the best… and you still are! I'm really happy we're on the same team together."

Sasuke turned his face and smiled. He had been the best student of his generation. He had been a genius who no one could beat. In this life he had been the number one, and not some stupid _second best_. How cool was that?

"Oh! You've found him."

Sasuke looked up and saw the masked man from his photo in a tree branch.

"Kakashi-sensei!" the girl said, as the man jumped to the ground and walked towards them.

Sasuke stared at his sensei. He didn't look very strong, actually, he seemed bored. But when his black eye was focused on Sasuke, the raven tried very hard not to flinch.

"Good work, Sakura" Kakashi said, though he kept looking at Sasuke.

"_So her name is Sakura"_ Sasuke thought. _"I have to remember it, so I won't get caught. But why is this guy staring at me like that?"_

"We were worried about you, Sasuke" Kakashi said quietly. "You were supposed to meet us at 7 a. m. in the bridge. This doesn't sound like you."

Sasuke couldn't help it and gulped. Did this man suspect of something?

"Sasuke-kun was at the market" Sakura intervened. "He was shopping."

"Shopping, huh? Is this true, Sasuke?"

"Yes" Sasuke said, glaring at his sensei. If he was rude to him, he was probably mad at him as well. "I needed to buy new scrolls about the Katon."

"Really?" Kakashi wasn't even blinking. "I thought you had lots of them at your home. Why did need to buy new ones?"

"Because… that blond idiot ruined them the other day" Sasuke said. He couldn't say that his pet ate them because he didn't know if he had a pet. Since his other teammate was so stupid, according to Sakura, it sounded like something that could really happen.

Kakashi finally blinked and moved away from Sasuke's face.

"Very well Sasuke, but you could have brought the scrolls after the training. We lost precious time" Kakashi started walking. "Let's go!"

When Kakashi and Sakura jumped to a roof, Sasuke's body did the same. He wasn't even thinking. It was like his body had moved on his own. He had learned how to jump from one place to another using his chakra, but he never tried to jump from roof to roof or from one tree to another.

"_It's like my body is used to do this all the time!"_ the raven thought, very excited. _"And it feels so easy to do. This is awesome!"_

Without Kakashi or Sakura noticing, Sasuke followed them with a happy and childlike smile on his lips, all the way to the training ground.

* * *

><p><strong>(<strong>**1) See Raven's Fall.**

**Well, I hope I did a good job with this chapter, though most chapters with wow-I'm-in-the-past plot begin a bit the same. There had to be a mirror scene, sorry for the cliché.**

**It's not that strange that Sasuke didn't recognize Naruto from the photo. When I saw a picture of my Dad as an eleven year old, I didn't recognize him as well. Besides, Sasuke thinks his Dad is either a baby or wasn't even born yet. Never crossed his mind that they were the same age.**

**See ya next chapter!**


	5. The Best

**Hello! The chapter is short but, like always, I hope you enjoy it!**

**Warning: OOC Sasuke**

* * *

><p><strong>The Best<strong>

最高 (Saikō)

The training field was just outside the village, near a river and surrounded by trees. Sasuke was expecting the blond boy to be there waiting for them, but he wasn't and neither Kakashi nor Sakura looked worried about it. The raven was about to ask if he was going to show up, but decided against it.

Sasuke was actually very excited. He couldn't wait to see what his body could do, since he was a lot stronger now. Training would be cool, but he couldn't wait to go on missions and fight against other ninjas instead of waiting or hiding in the background.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei… What are we going to train today?" Sakura asked, glancing at Sasuke. "Are we going to improve our teamwork?"

Kakashi took his orange book from his pocket. Sakura was more interested in winning Sasuke's affection than becoming a good ninja. Sure, she was clever and had plenty of potential but her fighting skills were worst than Naruto's. The Copy ninja almost giggled before he told them what they were about to do.

"Actually, I was thinking about a race" Kakashi said.

"A race?" Sasuke repeated.

"Exactly! Do you see those three logs?" the sensei asked. "I hid five golden bells in the training field. This race's purpose is finding at least three of the bells and put them on each one of the logs."

"What? But… sensei…" Sakura stammered, very disturbed.

"_Cool!"_ Sasuke thought. _"That sounds like a fun training. I can't wait to start!"_

Sakura, on the other hand, didn't look excited at all. She would have to compete against Sasuke? That was horrible! She wanted them to work together and hang out. How could she make him fall in love with her if they were competing against each other? This was so not fair!

"The fun part is I placed traps all over this field as well" Kakashi said with a big grin under his mask. "So finding the bells is only half the task. You need to be careful and avoid the traps as well. Are there any questions?"

"No. When can we start?" Sasuke asked with a confident smirk, while Sakura looked at him wide eyed.

She didn't want to do this at all. How come Sasuke was so excited?

"You can start right… now!" Kakashi exclaimed.

Sasuke immediately jumped to the nearest tree and started looking. Both Kakashi and Sakura stared wide eyed as he disappeared into the woods. That was the first time they had ever seen him so eager and impatient. Seconds later, Sakura decided to go looking in the opposite direction.

Since no one was looking, Sasuke decided to use his Sharingan and make use of his improved vision to help him. He almost immediately found a trap near some bushes, so he took a kunai from his pouch at hit it at a safe distance. The trap was a net that would have held him. A few minutes later, he found a golden bell inside a bird's nest.

The other traps were pretty easy as well and he had no problems in finding another bell under the river's water.

"_Great! Just one more to go!"_ the boy thought.

After getting rid of three more traps, the boy saw a golden glow between a few rocks. Even though he couldn't see anymore traps, Sasuke remembered how Daddy had taught him to use clones to scout a dangerous and unknown area.

"_Clones are not just to help you fight"_ Naruto had said, during one of their trainings. _"Everything a clone learns comes back to you after he disappears. Besides, they're great for deceiving the enemy!"_

Tou-chan was lucky, because he had so much chakra that he could make hundreds of clones without being tired. Sasuke knew he had more chakra than most of his classmates, but it was tiny in comparison with Naruto's. Still, the raven had learned his lesson well.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A clone appeared right in front of the boy.

"You know what to do" the original Sasuke said.

"Right" the clone answered as they split up.

* * *

><p>Sakura had managed to find two of the bells and avoided most of the traps. A scratch in her leg was the result of a bag filled with kunai which had dropped right over her (Kakashi-sensei! Was he trying to kill them?). Anyway, she could see another bell just by some rocks. If she caught it, the race was over.<p>

Sakura ran towards her prize, only to find Sasuke running in the same direction. The raven and the girl stopped, mere meters from the bell. Staring at each other, they realized they both had two of the bells, which meant that one was the only one left.

"_**Oh, no! Sasuke-kun and I are both aiming for the same bell! Why in the world does this have to happen? The God of Love must hate me! Shānnarō!"**_

"Well… this is quite a situation" both Genins looked up, finding Kakashi sitting on a tree and looking at them under his indecent book.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said, trying _really_ hard not to shout in anger. "Both of us have two bells, but there's only one left! What do we do?"

"That's right, Sakura. The answer should be simple, don't you think?" their sensei said, obviously smiling under his mask.

Sakura immediately understood what he meant and shuddered in horror.

"Don't tell me we… we'll have to _**fight**_ for it?"

"Exactly" the sensei answered.

Sasuke took a kunai from his pouch and looked intensely at the terrified kunoichi.

"Get ready, Sakura" Sasuke said, all set to battle her. Even if she didn't look very strong, she was still a graduated ninja, so the raven wouldn't go easy on her.

Still shaking, Sakura took a kunai from her pouch as well. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. It was a nightmare! She didn't want to fight Sasuke. This wasn't how things were supposed to be.

Sasuke attacked her in a blink of an eye. Like she expected, he was very strong and agile, and never held back on any stab, punch or kick.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, visibly angry. "Is that all you got?"

"_Sasuke-kun… I don't want to fight you"_ Sakura thought, feeling like the entire universe was against her. _"This is so horrible! I want us to be together and spend time with each other. I want us to go out, get married and have lots of children together. Why the hell did sensei make us do this terrible race? No… I can't quit! This is absolutely a trial of love!"_

As they battled, Sasuke and Sakura moved further away from the rocks and the bell. When the pink haired girl finally brought herself to punch the young Uchiha, he just smirked and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Both Sakura and Kakashi widened their eyes in astonishment. This didn't seem like Sasuke's fighting style at all.

"I guess the race is over."

Sakura turned around and saw a very relaxed Sasuke with the last bell on his hand, smirking boldly.

"Wha…? But you were… how?" the kunoichi stammered.

"Ever heard of Kage Bunshin?" the raven said. "Seriously, for someone who graduated, you're really weak" and he ran towards the three longs.

Sakura wasn't the only one who was dumbstruck. Kakashi still couldn't believe what he had seen during the fight. Sasuke's fighting style was completely different and, although it was brilliant to use a clone to fight Sakura while the real one got the bell, it wasn't something the Copy Ninja expected Sasuke to do. That was more like Naruto's style.

As the raven placed the bells on each log, Kakashi noticed once more his uncharacteristic enthusiasm. While fighting with Sakura, Sasuke looked very angry that she wasn't a good fighter, like he was expecting a challenge.

This boy definitely wasn't the Uchiha Sasuke they knew.

Suspicious, the Copy Ninja removed his headband from his eye and looked at the boy. So far, he couldn't see anything unusual. It wasn't a Henge and Sasuke's chakra was calm, so he wasn't under a genjutsu.

Maybe Sasuke was just acting different; everybody did it once in a while. However, Kakashi's instincts told him that this boy in front of him, placing his prized bells on the logs with a grin, wasn't his student.

"_Which means he __is either being controlled or someone took over his body"_ the sensei thought, frowning. _"Still… he didn't do anything yet and I have no other proof that he is an impostor aside from my suspicions. I should just keep an eye on him for the time being. Once I realize his real motives or his target, I'll make my move."_

Sakura approached Sasuke slowly. She was still confused by what had just happened, but she still could try and win him over. Besides, Sasuke looked really happy to have won.

"Congratulations, Sasuke-kun. You really tricked me with that clone. It was genius!"

Sasuke stared back at his teammate with a frown.

"You didn't fight at all! It was like you were afraid to" the raven complained. "You're a kunoichi, right? You should be better than this!"

"Ah…" Sakura moaned, lowering her head in defeat.

Kakashi closed his book and approached the two kids.

"It was a good race" the sensei said. "You did a good job, Sasuke. As for you Sakura, you did well in avoiding my traps and tracking the bells but, like Sasuke said, your fighting skills are still very weak. You need to train more. You can't always count on me or your teammates to battle for you."

Sakura nodded, with a cloud of gloominess over her head.

The rest of the day went by slowly. Kakashi made Sasuke spar with Sakura all morning and afternoon. By the end of the day, the pink haired girl was so worn out that Kakashi had to take her home in his back. Sasuke, on the other hand, was feeling great. He didn't lose a single spar and went home with a cocky smile on his lips. He hoped his other teammate was stronger than Sakura, since she wasn't a challenge at all. However, if the blond kid was such a screw up, maybe he shouldn't keep his hopes up.

"_It doesn't matter"_ the raven thought as he went back to his "old" home. _"If I'm this strong, my teammates might as well be wusses. I can handle everything myself."_

Sasuke didn't like going back to that abandoned compound again and wondered why he lived there. Sure, his house was huge, but he felt so isolated from the rest of the village. He didn't even have any neighbors if he needed to borrow some sugar. Well… maybe Itachi liked living there. He lived with his brother, so he just couldn't decide to move on his own.

"Nii-san?" Sasuke asked, as soon as he got into the house. "Are you home?"

The house was as quiet as it was in the morning. The raven haired boy called Itachi a few more times, but he soon realized that he was alone at home.

"_Right, Itachi is an ANBU"_ Sasuke realized. _"They go on important missions all the time. He probably doesn't spend a lot of time at home…"_

A bit disappointed for not getting to meet his big brother yet, Sasuke went to the kitchen and opened his fridge and all the closets. To his absolute dismay, all he could find were vegetables, rice and almost no spices. He didn't even have sugar, sweets or ramen!

"Gross! What the hell did I used to eat? This is all nasty! I want to eat something yummy!"

Going back to his bedroom, he found his wallet in one of the drawers. He was even more excited when he saw how much cash he had. He was rich! He could buy anything he wanted.

More enthusiastic, the raven went out of his house again and went shopping. This was the first time he could go buy stuff without his Dad's permission and he enjoyed every minute of it. He bought sweets like candy, cakes and ice-cream and ten packages of instant ramen. Sasuke knew how to cook a few simple dishes, but it was a lot easier to just eat the ramen.

Besides, no one could tell him what to do. He was a shinobi, a very popular one too!

As he returned home with his shopping bags, several other ninjas greeted him with big smiles. Everybody seemed to know who he was and told him to keep up the good work. Almost every girl cried to get his attention and even the boys his age looked like they admired him.

"_This is so awesome"_ the boy thought, trying to not smile and blush. _"I used to be so popular and everybody likes me!"_

A man with a goatee, made him stop to ask him how he was doing. Sasuke just shrugged and told him that everything was fine. He quickly realized that he was an Academy teacher.

"I haven't seen you ever since the graduation day" the man said. "But I can tell you I wasn't at all surprised that you managed to do it, and with the highest grades! You always were a very promising student."

"I… Thanks…" the boy answered, blushing slightly. "You're too kind."

"Nonsense! You deserve it!" the man went on. "It's not every day we get to teach a genius like you. Everybody expects great things from you. I'm sure you'll be fundamental for the village. Please keep up the good work!"

Almost bursting with happiness, Sasuke went home, took a quick shower and ate three ramen cups and ice-cream for the desert. He was starving after training all day, and he wasn't very worried about getting fat. After all, he was going to train more tomorrow.

With a fire scroll in his hand, the raven went to his room and lay on his bed with a big smirk on his lips. In this life he wasn't some dumb little kid who was always second best at everything or just Naruto's kid, concealed under his father's fame. This time, he was strong, cool and everyone acknowledged him as the _best_! He was a genius and no one could beat him.

Too bad he had gotten sick later and had been turned into a baby. Is old life was so much better than the one he had in the future. It was just perfect!

"I wish I could live here forever!" the boy said to the walls of his bedroom.

Hidden in the shadows of the threes, looking at the boy's window, Kakashi frowned once more. He had followed this _"Sasuke"_ ever since he went shopping and the raven never noticed that he was being followed even though the Copy ninja wasn't being particularly cautious.

The Uchiha Sasuke he knew would have noticed.

Watching his student's laughing inside the bedroom, Kakashi was even more convinced that this person was an impostor. Still, he didn't know who he was, were he was from or what he wanted. Could it be a spy? If so, why hadn't he studied Sasuke's behavior more carefully to impersonate him? Why was him so carefree?

"_Somehow… he reminds me of Naruto"_ the sensei thought.

Around eleven, the boy closed the scroll he was reading and turned off the lights. A few seconds later he was fast asleep, hugging his pillow. Silently, Kakashi moved from the trees and jumped to the nearest roof. He hoped the Sandaime was still in his office.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, Sasuke is all excited about his strength, independence and popularity. To a 6 year old is like a dream come true.<strong>

**Kakashi was rather quick to realize that he was an "impostor", but he is a prodigy after all and Sasuke wasn't behaving like his old "unknown" self. He pretty much believes he was still the same person, only older. Poor kid! He is in for a big surprise in the following chapters.**

**I hope you liked this. Don't forget to tell me what you guys think ^_^**

**See you next time!**


	6. The Price for Power

**Hey guys! It's been a while. The truth is I've been sick in the hospital for the last few weeks. I can't tell you how good it is to be back in the "real world". **

**I had this chapter half done before I got sick, but it's still small. **

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>The Price for Power<strong>

力の価格 _(Chikara __no __kakaku)_

Fortunately, when Kakashi reached the Hokage Mansion, he saw that the lights on his office were still on. The Copy Ninja didn't bother going to the main door and simply knocked on the window. The old Hokage's eyes widened slightly at the noise, before realizing who it was. Then, he just smiled and opened the windowpane.

"Kakashi" Hiruzen said as the younger ninja got into the room. "What brings you here at this late hour?"

"I was hoping to talk to you, Hokage-sama" Kakashi said, looking as serious as ever. "In private…"

The Sandaime opened his door and told all the guards to leave the building as well as the three ANBU who regularly watched over his Mansion. About five minutes later, Kakashi and Hiruzen couldn't feel anyone else's chakra in close proximity.

"We're alone, Kakashi. You can tell me what's on your mind" the old man put down his pipe and sat back at his chair. "This has anything to do with Naruto? Did something happen?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No, it's not Naruto. As far as I know, he's still completing the mission, but he'll be back soon."

"Hmm… The counsel weren't pleased by your decision to leave him outside the village" the Hokage said. "It's a huge risk to leave him unprotected."

"We can't protect Naruto all the time or keep him confined in the village" Kakashi answered, frowning slightly. "Jinchūriki or not, he's a Konoha's shinobi and should be treated as one, not like some weapon to be stored until he can be of use. Besides… I can't help thinking what Minato-sensei would say if he knew how his son his being treated."

Hiruzen lowered his head. He had been the one who was there when the Nine-Tails pierced Minato and Kushina in front of their newborn baby boy. When Hiruzen realized what Minato was going to do, it was too late to stop him. He still couldn't understand his successor's motives, but the Yondaime had decided to turn his son into the next Kyuubi host.

Kushina died first, crying and looking at her child until her last breath. As for Minato, he looked Hiruzen into his eyes and made him promise to tell the villagers to see Naruto not as a vessel of a monster who took so many lives, but a hero who contained it. Shortly after that, Namikaze Minato, Konoha's Yellow Flash and the Fourth Hokage, died smiling at his son.

Up until this day, the Third Hokage still couldn't understand what had gone wrong and why the Kyuubi had gotten free from Kushina. He knew the Uchiha's abilities to control the beast with their Sharingan and he also noticed their absence during the attack. Still, it wasn't easy to believe that clan was involved in something as terrible as treason.

"If it's not Naruto, what worries you, Kakashi?" the Hokage asked, trying to put those distressing thoughts behind him.

"It's Sasuke" the younger man said, surprising the old Kage who blinked and became tense. The young Uchiha survivor was another child he constantly worried about for reasons that not even Kakashi was aware.

"What about Sasuke?"

"I have reasons to believe that he's being controlled by someone."

Hiruzen placed his hands under his chin and looked at the younger ninja with a serious expression. "Tell me."

Kakashi told the Hokage everything, including the strange red thunderstorm (which Hiruzen had also found odd and ordered an investigation), the young raven's behavior and his different battle style during their training.

"I know I don't have any other proof aside from my suspicions" Kakashi went on. "But I believe something happened to Sasuke. I have no idea if it is connected to that storm, but I just can't let this slip."

Hiruzen crossed his arms over his chest and picked up his pipe once more.

"From what you told me, his behavior surely is doubtful" the Hokage said, under a cloud of smoke. "However, if he is being controlled by a spy, he's not doing a very good job. Unless, of course, that's not what he's after."

"What should I do, Hokage-sama?"

"For now, just keep an eye on him" Hiruzen ordered. "I'll send a few ANBU spy on him as well, just in case. As soon as he does anything concrete, we'll take him into the Interrogation Squad."

* * *

><p>The alarm clock woke Sasuke from his sleep this time. As he groaned and tried to make it stop, he remembered where he was and, most importantly, <em><strong>when<strong>_ he was.

"That's right! Training!" the boy said, jumping from his bed and almost falling to the ground.

It was still dark, so the raven had to turn on the light of his bedroom to find his clothes and headband on the wooden floor. Looking around, Sasuke realized that the room was really a mess. He'd have to clean it later… if he felt like it.

With his eyes puffy and yawning, Sasuke dragged himself to bathroom to wash his face and got dressed. He was half surprised when he got into the empty kitchen and realized he had to make his own breakfast and eat it alone. Normally, he and his Dad always had breakfast together, even if Naruto didn't need to go to work early the morning. He said he liked having their meals together so they could talk to each other. Sasuke usually said that they didn't have much to talk about, after all they saw each other every day, but Naruto always answered that it was better to talk about nothing than eat in complete silence.

Suddenly, Sasuke noticed just how quiet the house was. Aside from the sound of the tableware and the creaking wood, the boy couldn't hear anything else. He was completely isolated.

After eating, the raven noticed that it was almost seven so he quickly washed the dishes and put on his blue sandals. As he left the deserted compound, he finally noticed the fan crests all over the walls, the same one he had on the back of every shirt in his closet.

"_That __must __mean __I __belong __to __a __clan __then__"_ the raven thought, going towards the still sleeping village. _"__I __wonder __what __it __is__… __I __don__'__t __even __know __my __family __name.__"_

Sasuke was still a bit confused as in why Naruto had kept his first name. Maybe he didn't want to change it or maybe Itachi had asked him not to. He had to admit that having the same name was a lot less confusing, but he surely had another surname now. He wasn't an Uzumaki anymore, he belonged to another family.

Somehow, that thought made Sasuke feel troubled.

"_No! __I__'__m __not __gonna __think __about __that __know__"_ the child thought.

Deciding to enjoy himself, Sasuke went to the bridge. He was a super, powerful and cool ninja now; he should focus on that and be happy. In his next life, he wasn't as strong and that asshole Riku won almost all of their spars. Here, there was no Riku because he wasn't even born yet. That alone made Sasuke superior! In the future, Riku was eight months older than he was and taller. Now he would be tiny and puny compared to Sasuke.

Also, Naruto wasn't there to embarrass him all the time and his constant hugs. Sasuke didn't mind it when they were alone, but his Tou-chan kept doing it in front of his classmates and other people, like he was still a toddler. Sasuke was too old for that and too cool! He didn't need his father around him all the time.

Besides, now there was no one to compare him to Naruto or frown in confusion every time they found out he was his son. Sasuke hated when people became elucidated when they realized Sasuke was adopted, like it explained everything, all their differences. It was unnerving! In this life, Sasuke was cool and powerful on his own. He was in the top and wasn't compared to no one, especially Daddy.

Though he had to admit… he did feel a bit lonely.

By the time Sasuke arrived to the bridge, Sakura was already there. The girl looked exhausted from yesterday's training session and, unexpectedly, a bit scared too. She definitely didn't want to spar against Sasuke anymore, all her muscles and bones hurt.

"Good-morning, Sasuke-kun" she said smiling, but too tired and sleepy to be as passionate as the day before.

"Morning" the raven boy answered, looking around. "Isn't Kakashi here yet?"

"Sensei is always late... who knows when he'll show up" Sakura answered.

Sasuke's onyx eyes widened in disbelief, Kakashi had made him wake up so early for nothing? Damn! It should be a crime to do that! No wonder he was rude to him in this life.

"What about…" Sasuke looked around once more, but he also couldn't find his other teammate. "What about... the idiot? Is he late too?"

Sakura rubbed her sleepy eyes and sat in the ground.

"Sasuke-kun… don't you remember? He stayed in that warehouse to clean the mess he made in our last mission. He'll probably take a while to finish that…" she answered, barely keeping her eyes open. "Just as well, that way he won't keep bothering us all the time."

Sasuke didn't know what to answer so he just kept quiet and leaned against the bars of the bridge, watching to sun go up. He was half asleep when they heard someone jump right in front of them.

"Good Morning!" Kakashi said merrily, like he wasn't two hours behind schedule.

"You're late!" Sakura cried.

"You're late, damn it!" Sasuke yelled.

Again, Sakura looked surprised at Sasuke's outburst. He was usually so calm and controlled, but since yesterday he had become much more emotional. On the other hand, Kakashi just raised an eyebrow, confirming once more his suspicions that this pre-teen was not Uchiha Sasuke.

"Sorry for the delay. I just came back from the Hokage's office" the Copy Ninja said.

Sasuke blinked. Kakashi had been with the Hokage? With grandpa?

"Why did do that, sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Well, I decided us to do a few undemanding missions" Kakashi said. "They're very simple and should help you guys train. Besides, you can earn some extra money. Everybody wins."

"_Cool! __Missions! __We__'__re __actually __going __to __do __missions! __That __means __I__'__m __real __ninja __now!__This __so __awesome!__"_ Sasuke thought, very excited. "So… What are we going to do? Escort someone? Fight bandits? Retrieve something stolen?"

* * *

><p><em>15 minutes later<em>

"Pick up trash from the river?" Sasuke cried, indignant. "Are you kidding me?"

"Nope!" Kakashi answered, giving each one a bag to pick up the garbage along the riverside. "Like I said, the missions are simple and we're missing a member. Obviously, the Hokage wouldn't assign us for something harder."

Sakura moved closer to the river and looked revolted at a dirty bag filled with something green and rotten whose stench was unbearable.

"Eww! I think something died over here!" Sakura said, moving away from the disgusting odor. "Sensei, this is cruel!"

"It's a mission, Sakura" Kakashi answered. "When you're a ninja, you can't afford to be fussy."

"How is picking up trash supposed to be training?" Sasuke asked, about to pout.

"Every mission teaches us something, Sasuke. Even if you don't improve your skills, you're doing a shinobi work."

This time, Sasuke really did pout.

"This isn't a work for a ninja! We won't learn anything! This is just… stupid!"

Kakashi moved closer to the raven and looked at him directly in the eyes, making the boy gulp.

"A mission is a mission, no matter how simple or dumb it looks like" the gray haired man said. "Sasuke… you're a ninja now, not some spoiled little brat. From the moment you graduated, you accepted the dangers and consequences of being a ninja. So stop whining and do your job."

Blushing in anger and humiliation, Sasuke grabbed his trash bag and moved as further away from Kakashi and Sakura as possible, picking up the trash in silence. This was ridiculous! He was strong now; he could do millions of harder things. But, instead, he was picking up empty cans and rotten fruit like some garbage man!

Sure, his Dad often did easy jobs when they were travelling to earn money, but that was because he wasn't in their village. Sasuke bet they would never ask Naruto, the son of the great Fourth Hokage, to do these stupid missions when he was a genin.

Two hours later, the river was clean and dozens of garbage bags were taken by some guys in a wagon. Both Sasuke and Sakura glared at their sensei who had been reading his pornographic book while they worked like slaves in the trash.

"Okay, to the next mission!" Kakashi said, walking down the road.

The rest of the day was a _**nightmare**_. They had to catch a missing dog, that bit Sasuke's hand twice and scratched Sakura's arm, then the owner yelled at them because they had to knock the vicious beast unconscious to bring him back. After that, they had to deliver two huge boxes to a researcher on the outskirts of the village and, finally, they still had to pull weeds from an old lady's garden under the hot sun.

"I guess that's it for today" Kakashi said merrily, closing his orange book. "You did a good job today. I'm going to deliver the report to the Hokage."

Sakura leaned against a wall, feeling dirty, sweaty and worn out.

"Does… does this mean it's over? Can we go home now?" she pleaded.

"You can go home" the sensei said. "Tomorrow you have the day off, so we'll meet at the same hour on the bridge after tomorrow. See you two later!" and with a puff of smoke, Kakashi vanished.

Sakura was about to ask Sasuke to hang out and have dinner with her, until she saw her own reflection on a store window and gaped with horror. Her hair was messy, greasy and dirty. Her red dress was filled with stains and she reeked of sweat. Of course Sasuke was in the same state, but, even filthy, he looked too handsome.

"Eh… I guess I'm heading home" Sakura said, dying for a hot and perfumed bath to remove all that filth from her skin and hair. "See you later, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke just grunted something in response, more than happy that she left. This day had been a complete waste of time. Hell! Even spending the whole day in school was better than doing stupid missions like these.

The raven walked towards the compound once more to take a shower and dress some clean clothes. Since it was still early, Sasuke picked his ninja stools and headed towards the village. He wandered for a while until he found a secluded area near a river and surrounded by tall trees. The place was perfect for training.

With a kunai, the boy carved an X on several trees, including some tall branches, and started his kunai and shuriken throwing training. Sasuke jumped and ran around the forest, throwing the metal weapons in every direction. When he finished, he turned around and looked at his work.

All his weapons had hit their targets! It was amazing how easily he could everything, like his body couldn't do anything wrong. He was perfect and he didn't even have to train hard.

"Hmph!" the raven said, picking up his blades. "How is that? Definitely not a second best anymore!"

Still grinning with pride, the raven continued his training, growing increasingly happy with each achievement. Not only did he hit all his targets, but his speed and strength were improved as well. He could jump and run from one place to another in seconds, his Substitution Jutsu was faultless and his Taijutsu had smashed a rock into pebbles.

He really was a genius like Sakura had said. He was great at everything he did.

"_I__'__m __the __best __ninja __ever__"_ the boy thought, betraying his age with his childlike smile. _"__That __dumb __Kakashi __doesn__'__t __know __anything.__I __should __be __doing __cooler __missions __already. __I__'__m __too __strong __to __be __doing __that __kid__ stuff. __Maybe __I __should __just __be __promoted __to __a __Chuunin __or __get __into __the __ANBU __like __Nii-san. __I__'__m __ready __for __that!__"_

Suddenly, Sasuke had an idea. Picking up his ninja tools, he moved through the forest to the river. Looking at the calm waters, the raven made the hand seals with impressive speed and precision.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

The fireball was immense. Sasuke could feel its huge destructive power turn the water into hot steam as the flames grew larger in front of him. The jutsu was perfect. Finally he had done! It wasn't a tiny flame or a puff of smoke like the previous hundred times he had tried it. This Katon was just right!

"I did it… I did it!" the raven haired boy exclaimed with a big smile and immediately turning around. "I really did it! Did you see? Tou-chan…?"

Sasuke's black eyes widened as he realized that there was no one behind him. It didn't take long until he remembered. Naruto wasn't there… he wasn't there anymore to see Sasuke train.

The boy's smile slowly faded and he looked down with a saddened expression.

* * *

><p>Despite what Kakashi had told him, Naruto did use his shadow clones to help him clean the warehouse or else he would still be sweeping the floor and washing windows. He was careful though and had only used them when no one was watching or at night. Also, paying for the damaged goods was a shock. His precious Gama-chan was completely deflated like a sad thin frog. Most of the blonds' savings were gone…<p>

"Are you done?" the merchant called from the jamb with an angry glare.

"It's all cleaned" the boy said, rubbing his dirty hands to his equally dirty pants. "Look! Everything is shinning!"

The man's lips became a thin line.

"Don't you speak to me with that insolent tone, you worthless brat!" he growled. "I lost time, costumers and money because of you. If were done cleaning then get the hell out of my warehouse. I don't want to see you around here ever again!"

"I paid for everything I broke!" the young ninja answered back, tired and frustrated. "I spent days working without a break to get everything clean."

"Get out of here before I hire some _**real**_ ninjas to kick you out! OUT!"

"Fine!" shaking with anger, Naruto ran out of the warehouse and jumped to the nearest tree.

It didn't matter. No matter what he did, how hard he tried, nothing seemed to work. Even when he could do something right, no one acknowledged his efforts and dismissed him like he was some kind of bug or a plague. No one cared about him… he would always be the hopeless loser.

It just wasn't fair. He tried so hard to become a good ninja, he trained and he did his best but it was never enough, not even for his team. He wasn't like Sasuke.

"That cocky bastard!" Naruto mumbled as he jumped from tree to tree. Sasuke thought he was so much better than him. Always insulting Naruto and making him feel like a letdown. "I'll beat you, teme! I'll show you I'm not a loser, even if it is the last thing I'll do!"

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><p><strong>Okay, so Naruto is on his way back. Sorry for the cliffy ^_^<strong>

**Sasuke is a little kid and, despite his jealously, Naruto has always been his closest companion and he means the whole world to him. Some of his enthusiasm over his "perfect" life is starting to wear down has he notices what he gave up instead.**

**Well,****it****'****s ****hard ****to ****say ****when ****I****'****ll ****be ****able ****to ****update ****again.****I ****have ****missed ****classes, ****reports ****and ****exams,****so ****I****'****ll ****be ****busy ****as ****hell ****for ****the ****next ****few ****weeks.**

**Also, ****special ****thanks ****to ****my ****anonymous ****reviewers: ****narutofan ****and ****Tarn ****Vedra ****5. ****I ****love ****your ****reviews ****and ****everyone ****else****'****s ****as ****well!**

**See you guys soon I hope!**


	7. Broken Hearts

**Hey there! It's been a while since I wrote something. This chapter didn't end up the way I had originally planned, but I hope it's good either way.**

**Enjoy! And thanks for the 100 reviews!**

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><p><strong>Broken Hearts<strong>

壊れた心 _(Kowareta __kokoro)_

"_I'm alone"_

It wasn't until he got to the Mansion that Sasuke finally realized it.

After finally completing his Katon perfectly, something he had being trying to accomplish for about a year without success, Sasuke's joy disappeared as quickly as smoke in the wind as he realized his father didn't get to see it.

The reason the raven had tried so hard to complete de jutsu had been partially forgotten over his trainings. Mainly, because Sasuke had been thinking about defeating Riku and he had become too worried about his lack of progress. All he could think was how frustrating it was that he couldn't be stronger faster so he could be a ninja even faster. He had been so focused on that he had forgotten why he had wanted to grow strong in the first place: to make his Dad proud.

Sasuke wanted to see Naruto's face when he finally got the jutsu right. He wanted his Tou-chan to acknowledge his efforts, because his father was so amazing and strong. Sasuke wanted to be as powerful as he was so they could fight side by side, like a team.

Sasuke wanted to be strong because that would further prove that he really was Naruto's son. That the two were really alike.

He supposed he had never felt like that in his first life. First of all, he hadn't been adopted; he lived with his real parents and brother. Probably he had uncles, aunts and a few cousins, maybe a grandparent. That way, Sasuke imagined (and envied) that he had perfectly fitted with his family. However, by now, he realized that he was a lot lonelier that he ever thought possible. By the time he was… what? Twelve? Thirteen? He lived all alone. There was no one waiting for him to return.

His was chest tight; he didn't feel like training anymore. The raven put his weapons in his pouch and started walking through the busy streets of Konoha, looking down, staring only at his shadow in front of him.

Sasuke wasn't used to these streets, to these houses or these people. He didn't know any of them. Maybe he did in his former life, maybe he had loved them or hated them but, right know, he felt surrounded by strangers and that scared him.

When he got to the Compound, the boy felt even worse. Never in his life had he come to an empty home, knowing that he would be completely alone, with no one to talk to.

Sasuke opened the door of the mansion and, once more, he was welcome by silence.

"This isn't my home" the boy said to the dark house. "This is nothing like my home."

It wasn't about the mansion. He had lived in so many different places over the years that it didn't bother him whether he slept in a lousy apartment or a luxurious hotel room. All places felt the same once Naruto and him unpacked their stuff and turned the place into _their_ home.

This house wasn't his home. It didn't have his drawings from when he was in the kindergarten, there weren't any plants growing near the windows, like the ones his father loved to water, he didn't have his toys, clothes or books.

He didn't have his Daddy. He wasn't here.

Sasuke ran up the stairs into the bedroom and lay on the unmade bed, curling into a fetal position. He hadn't even thought about that. He had been so excited about his sudden strength and popularity that he didn't even think about Tou-chan. He was too busy being happy for turning an elite ninja.

He wasn't even used to his body. Sure, it felt great to be a bit taller and stronger. It made him feel confident and safe. But, if he wanted to be honest with himself, he knew he was cheating. He hadn't trained to deserve his power or his muscles and he hadn't really grown. He was six years old and being inside his former pre-teen self didn't change that.

With his right hand, Sasuke took off his forehead protector and held it in his hands. In his past life, he had gone to the Academy and scored top in every class, then he had graduated and turned into an official shinobi.

In his first life, the past _Sasuke_ had deserved this Hitai-ate. He didn't. He didn't graduate from the Academy yet, he wasn't a real shinobi… He didn't deserve it. He was just a little kid playing ninja.

Carefully, Sasuke placed the headband on the bedside table. He was hungry, but he didn't feel like cooking so he just ate a bowl of soup that he found in the freezer before getting ready to go to bed.

This time he left the curtains open so he could look at the Hokage Mountain or, more specifically, at grandpa Minato's face. The pain in his chest became unbearable and Sasuke felt his body shake as the tears ran freely down his face.

This wasn't his life. It had been once, but it wasn't now. He wanted to go home, he missed his home. He missed Tsunade Baa-chan, Gaara-san, Shizune Nee-chan and Iruka-sensei…. his family. He missed his family.

He missed his Dad.

Sasuke didn't want to, but the thought came like a knife in his heart. He didn't know how to go home, to his real time. He had no idea how he had got here in the first place or why and he didn't know how to go back either.

Sasuke felt horrified and completely lost. He was all alone in this place, he didn't know anyone! Probably Naruto didn't even exist yet… maybe he hadn't even been born.

The raven pulled the blanket closer to his body, he just couldn't stop shaking. Even knowing that it was stupid, he wished he could hug Gama-chan like used to when he was little and felt upset. He wished he could go to his father and simply sit on his lap, feeling safe in his arms as he made the sadness go away like always with his kind smile and gentle eyes. He might never see him again or, even if he did, they would never be a family. No one would believe him if he said that he was his son. People would think he was crazy.

"Tou-chan…"

Like the child he truly was, Sasuke hugged his pillow and burst into tears, calling for his Daddy over and over until he fell asleep in exhaustion.

* * *

><p>By the time Naruto got to the village it was already dark. The blond cursed mentally as he jumped from roof to roof. He was hoping to find Sakura-chan and Sasuke today so he could teach that raven haired bastard a lesson in front of her.<p>

Naruto knew that if he could just beat Sasuke at something, anything, he would impress Sakura-chan and she would like him more. All he had to do was to prove to her that he was strong and cool.

He was going to be the next Hokage, it didn't matter what people thought or said. He was going to show them that he wasn't a loser!

Like always, the guards glared at him as Naruto entered the Hokage's Mansion. The blond didn't look at them and ran up the stairs as quickly as he could, then, he burst into the Hokage's office without knocking.

"Oh, Naruto. It's you" the Sandaime said evenly, used to the young Genin's brashness.

"Good-night, Sandaime Jii-chan! I've finished the mission" Naruto said, hoping that Kakashi hadn't told him how he had destroyed the warehouse.

"I see… Kakashi told me how you destroyed the warehouse" the old man said, as Naruto stiffened. "Naruto… when will you be more careful?"

"Ah… I'm sorry…" Naruto answered, smiling uncomfortably and rubbing his neck. "But I cleaned everything and I paid that guy for the damages even though he was a complete asshole."

"That's not the point. If you can't complete a simple mission like that successfully, how do you expect to do well in harder missions? Or get promoted? If you can't finish a mission and you make your team vulnerable, no one will hire you or trust you."

Naruto's smile faded. First Kakashi and now even the Third was scolding him. He already knew he had messed up. People didn't need to keep repeating it.

"I was just trying to do a good job" the pre-teen angrily said. "I know I screwed up but I wasn't being a show off! I just wanted to finish the mission faster!"

"And you wanted to do better than Sasuke."

Naruto's lips became a thin line at the comment and he looked away. "I can do better than him, if people just gave me a chance!"

The Sandaime sighed. Ever since the Academy, those two boys just couldn't get along. The old man wasn't sure they knew how similar they actually were and how much they could complete each other and grow. That had been one of the reasons he had placed them together in the same team, even if it was against Homura and Koharu's wishes.

"Naruto… whether you like it or not, you and Sasuke are teammates" Hiruzen said evenly, looking the hyperactive son of his successor in the eye. "You have to stop bickering and work together."

Naruto's blue eyes glared.

"Why are you only telling _**me**_ off? Sasuke ruins our teamwork too! He's not perfect like everyone says. He keeps insulting me no matter what I do! He's always doing stuff on his own to show off and he's a complete bastard to me and Sakura-chan!"

"I'm not talking to Sasuke now. I'm talking to you, Naruto" the Hokage answered back. "It was your foolishness that made the mission fail. If you don't change your ways, you won't have a future as a shinobi."

Naruto closed his fists tightly, as his eyes started burning. Not even the Hokage, not even the man he always thought as a grandpa and one of the few people who had been kind to him stood by his side when he needed.

"You don't get it…" the boy said as he turned his back and walked towards the door. "No one gets it!" before the Third could say or do anything, Naruto had already burst out of his office and started running.

The blond boy avoided the streets and the villagers. He didn't need more glares and spiteful whispers about him, he had heard them all already.

"_You won't have a future as a shinobi."_

How could the Third say that? He knew better than anyone how much Naruto had always tried to become an awesome ninja and be finally recognized by everybody. Was it so hard to receive a little praise? Why did everyone always think and see the worst of him but never his efforts or his achievements? Kakashi-sensei and now the Sandaime… he thought he could count on them to see it. Apparently he had been wrong.

"_It__'__s __no __use __to __go __talking __to __Iruka-sensei __now__" _the blond Genin thought, finally reaching his apartment. _"__He__'__s __gonna __scold __me __too.__"_

Naruto kicked his sandals and ran straight to his messy bedroom. Still dressed, he jumped to his bed and hugged the pillow, looking at the moon outside. Now that no one was there, he could just let his mask fall. Around others, Naruto learned that smiling could be a powerful shield to protect him. As long as he smiled, the villagers wouldn't get the satisfaction of seeing him hurt and miserable like they wanted.

Like so many times before, the blond boy wondered how it would be like if he had a family like everyone else. A mother to hold him close and worry constantly about him and a father who would praise him and stroke his hair playfully… that was the image he always thought about a family. Only to realize painfully that he didn't have any.

_Mom_ and _Dad_ were like foreign words to him. He knew he must have had parents, or else he wouldn't be here at all, but he couldn't imagine how they looked like or how they would be. Besides, it was pointless. He would never have a family.

He didn't even have friends.

No matter how much he wanted it, Naruto knew that neither Sakura nor Sasuke were his friends. They didn't even like him a little bit! Sakura thought he was a pain in the neck and Sasuke… Sasuke didn't think he was worth of his time or attention.

It was stupid to think that Sasuke would one day see him as an equal. Each day, Naruto realized just how hard it was to prove himself worthy. No matter how much he trained and improved, Sasuke was always miles ahead of him in every way. Naruto just wasn't good enough.

Loser… Dead-Last... Idiot... Moron... Pathetic… Worthless... Dangerous… Those were the words he was used to hear people describe him ever since an early age. The grown-ups thought he was too stupid to notice, but he heard them loud and clear and he understood every single glare. They hated him and wanted him to disappear from their sight, their families and their life. He didn't belong to the village. He didn't belong anywhere.

Naruto knew damn well that if he died, most people would only be relieved and even happy that he was finally gone.

Because he wasn't important. He didn't mean… anything.

As the blond boy thought about this, he could feel his heart aching, like there was a huge hole in his chest. He hated feeling this way! Self-pity would only make things worse and crying wouldn't solve anything.

Tomorrow was his day off, it was perfect. He could finally find Sasuke and make him fight him. Naruto knew he had gotten stronger and he wouldn't quit until he defeated that Uchiha bastard. Once he did, he could finally prove to him that he wasn't a loser, he would finally be acknowledged.

And then… he would finally be important.

* * *

><p>After waking up, Sasuke walked to the kitchen like a zombie. He had woken up early, which was strange since he normally overslept when he didn't have to go to school. However, today he didn't feel like staying snoozing in bed. There was too much on his mind, too many sad thoughts.<p>

For the first time since he was in the past, Sasuke noticed the complete lack of plants in the house. Not even a single vase. Aside from him, there was nothing else living in the mansion. If he actually lived there, he would have wanted some. The house was too empty.

That made him wonder what kind of person he used to be. Aside from ninja scrolls and books, he didn't find anything he could use to have fun in his room. Everything was stored in their own rightful places and all his clothing and sandals were squeaky clean.

Sasuke wondered if he had been some sort of neat freak who need to keep everything tidy and in order. Sure, he wanted to know where his things were but this was just **too **organized. Too… perfect.

On purpose, he switched some of the books and scrolls. A little mess wasn't so weird; actually it felt familiar and refreshing.

There was also the complete lack of "decent" food on the kitchen. What the heck? Did his past self only eat healthy foods the whole time? Voluntarily? Not even a cup of ramen or some ice-cream now and then?

"_Geez__… __what __kind __of __freak __was __I?__"_ the boy thought as he poured some milk into a bowl. Fortunately he still had some cookies from the last time he went shopping but, much to his chagrin, he found out that he didn't have sugar. With a grimace, the raven drank his sour milk, sticking his tongue out. "Blew!"

After breakfast, Sasuke went to visit every room in the Mansion. Most of them were completely empty and filled dust. He tried to find his brother's bedroom, maybe he could find some clue about him or where he was and, most importantly, when was he coming back. However the search was in vain. As far as he knew, Sasuke was the only one living in that house for a long, long time. There were no signs of his Nii-san ever living there at all. Not a picture, some clothes or even a toothbrush... nothing. It was if Itachi had never been there.

Sasuke returned to his bedroom and sat at in his bed, wondering what he was supposed to do now, his head filled with unanswered questions.

He wanted to meet Itachi. His whole life he had heard about his big brother and he wanted to really see him and talk to him now that he had the chance. Who knows? Maybe Nii-san could find a way to send Sasuke back home; after all, he had been to one who used the kinjutsu that had turned him into a baby again.

It was easier said than done. Sasuke had no idea on how to find his brother. He knew that Itachi was an ANBU and if he wasn't home, he was on some mission, apparently, for a long time.

Sasuke closed his arms around his chest and thought as hard as he could. There had to be a way to talk to his brother… maybe he could write him a letter and ask him to come back to the village because it was an emergency. Missions were important but so was _**this**_! But how would he send a letter? Who knew were Itachi was?

"You sure look lost in your thoughts."

Sasuke opened his eyes wide and jumped from his bed, falling right on his ass. Outside his window, Hatake Kakashi looked at the fallen pre-teen with his usual bored expression.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sasuke groaned, getting up and glaring at his sensei.

"Relax, Sasuke" the older ninja said. "I just came to check up on you."

"What do you mean? Were you spying on me like some sort of pervert?"

"Of course not. I came to make sure you were okay" Kakashi said, sounding completely calm. "You seemed pretty frustrated yesterday, so I wanted to know how you were. C'mon Sasuke, I'm your sensei. I care about my students and I usually stop by to check up on you guys. I don't understand why you're so surprised."

That was a lie, of course. Kakashi had never checked up on Sasuke or Sakura, but he wanted to see the boy's reaction to his words. The raven simply stared at him before nodding.

"I'm not surprised…" the boy answered. "I just… didn't expect you'd show up today…"

Kakashi's eyes darkened.

"_Just __as __I __suspected__"_ the Copy Ninja thought_.__ "__You__'__re __definitely __not __Sasuke. __All __I __need __to __know __now __is __what __you__'__re __really __after.__"_

Sasuke felt awkward that Kakashi was outside the house, watching him while he was still in his pajamas. Still, the boy opened the windowpane and let the Jōnin come inside his bedroom, something his "real" self would never do.

"_Just __who __are __you?__"_ Kakashi thought as he looked around and noticed the untidy bedroom. Sasuke seemed to notice that too.

"Eh… Sorry about the mess" the boy said, picking up some clothes and throwing them carelessly to his closet.

The Jōnin just shrugged, but he observed the boy's movements attentively. There had to be some sort of clue that could hint him to _Fake__Sasuke__'__s_ intentions.

Suddenly, the raven stopped and turned around.

"Actually… I'm glad you're here" the boy said. "I need to ask you something important."

Kakashi blinked but remained impassive "What do you need to know?"

The raven lowered his eyes, as if unsure on how to start. But when he stared back at Kakashi's face he sounded more resolute than ever.

"It's about Nii-san…" the boy said and, this time, Kakashi almost looked shocked before regaining his composure in a matter of seconds. "I want to know how I can talk to him."

Kakashi wasn't expecting this, not for a long shot. First of all, he had never heard Sasuke call Itachi _"Nii-san"_. He'd stopped ever since the massacre and Kakashi doubted that he would ever call him _"brother"_ again. Second of all, it wasn't a surprise that Sasuke wanted to know where the missing-nin was, what was surprising was that he wanted to _talk_.

"Itachi?" Kakashi said carefully. "You want… to talk with Itachi?"

The raven simply nodded, looking completely unaware.

"I was thinking about writing him a letter" the boy continued. "But I don't know where to send it or who I should talk to. Since you're a sensei, you should know, right?"

"Why do you want to talk with Itachi?" Kakashi asked, trying to play along on whatever this person was up to. "Why now?"

"I… just need to talk to Nii-san" the raven haired boy said. "I know he's in the ANBU and all, and that his missions are very important to the village. But I really need to talk to him and see him. He could come back to the village for a day, right? If it is important…"

Kakashi's mind was racing. So this person's target was Uchiha Itachi? Was that why he or she was using his younger brother's body? If so, how could he get so much info wrong? Every decent ninja village had heard about the Uchiha Clan's Massacre and that Uchiha Itachi was a missing-nin on the loose. Even if they didn't know Uchiha Sasuke, anyone would deduce that he wouldn't just forgive his older brother for killing his entire family.

However, this person was terrific actor. He really sounded like he believed everything he said about Itachi. If he had studied Sasuke's behavior or learned more about Itachi, maybe he could have fooled everyone, including Kakashi.

"Itachi is been away from Konoha for five years" the Jōnin said, noticing the raven's black eyes grow wide with surprise. "No one has heard a word from him ever since or even know where he's been."

"Wha…? That long? I mean…" Sasuke stammered, trying to choose the right words. "How come no one knows? Is he in some sort of top secret mission or something?"

"Perhaps" the older ninja answered. "Why do you need to talk to him so urgently, Sasuke? What do you want from him?"

The raven sat back in his bed, still taken aback. Now he understood why the house was so empty. Nii-san wasn't living there; he wasn't even in the village. There was almost no way he could see him now.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi insisted. He needed to get as much information from this spy as possible. "Why do you want to talk to Itachi?"

Slowly, the pre-teen looked at his sensei. Kakashi had to blink as he saw the genuine sadness in his student's onyx eyes.

"He's my brother" the boy said, sounding almost like a little boy. "I wanted to see him."

Kakashi wasn't sure on how to react to this. Damn! He really was a good actor! If he didn't know Sasuke, he could have believed in this guy.

The raven got up from bed and walked towards his closet, picking some clean clothes.

"Would you mind?" the raven said. "I want to be alone right now."

Kakashi understood that he wasn't going to get more information now, so he nodded and opened the window, leaving as swiftly as he had come. He's report his findings to the Hokage right away and then continue to spy on this strange spy.

* * *

><p>Sasuke got dressed with his usual high-colored blue shirt and white shorts, but he didn't put on his arm warmers or the bandages around his legs. After Kakashi left, he went to the leaving room and opened the running door to outside. Then he laid on the floor and looked at the blue sky.<p>

He hadn't expected this. It never crossed his mind that his brother wasn't around when he was a kid the first time. All this time, Sasuke had assumed Itachi had lived with him or even raised him after their parents' deaths, but now he realized that his past self had almost always lived alone. He couldn't understand why he had to leave for so long. Itachi had loved him very much, that was what his father had always told him.

Fighting back his tears, the raven bit his lower lip, feeling scared and lonely. He didn't want to be here anymore. He knew he was behaving like a little kid, but, right now, he didn't care. He just wanted things to be normal again.

If he was trapped in his past, that meant he would have to live his first life all over again. He wasn't Uzumaki Sasuke anymore; he wasn't connected to Naruto at all. In the future, Sasuke had his father's blood running through his veins, now he didn't even have that. There weren't parent and child anymore and there was a chance they would never be again.

Realizing this, he felt a huge void in his chest. Right now, he had no bonds with his own Dad. They were like strangers whose lives were completely separated.

"Papa…" Sasuke whispered, curling into a fetal position on the floor. "Papa I wanna go home. Please take me home."

He didn't care that Naruto was famous. He didn't care that he was super strong while Sasuke was still out of his league. He didn't mind that Naruto was silly and embarrassed him in front of his classmates. Right now, Sasuke would hug him in public. He would run into his arms and be in the place where he fitted best.

He had been jealous of Naruto and he had resented him but, Sasuke didn't want to stop being his son.

"And that won't happen!" the raven haired boy said, getting up with a jump and quickly leaving the mansion.

He had a new mission: he was going to find his family. He didn't care if they thought he was crazy or not, he's find a way to prove to them that he was who claimed to be. He was still Uzumaki Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto was going to be his Dad in the future. Nothing would change that.

He was his father's son.

Almost running, Sasuke moved towards the Hokage Mountain. First, he was going to meet his grandpa Minato, who was the Hokage right now. He didn't know if grandpa had already married his grandma or if Naruto had already been born, but he needed to find out.

Grandpa Minato had been very powerful and famous, maybe he could be the one to help Sasuke go back to his own time.

"There you are, you bastard!"

Sasuke stopped just in time or he would have fell over something big, bright and orange which suddenly appeared in his way.

"What the…?" the raven said. In front of him was an older boy (well… actually Sasuke's physical age), staring at him with a huge frown.

"Don't you think you can run away from me, Sasuke!" the boy yelled, being rather annoying. "I told you I'd make you pay for what you said, so let's fight. Here and now!"

Sasuke blinked and frowned. Was this guy serious? He had no time to waste on this.

"Get out of my way" the raven answered back. "I have stuff to do."

"Then do it later" the blond kid groaned. "You're gonna fight me now, unless you're too scared!"

Sasuke was really getting annoyed. Who the hell was this kid? And, please, did he actually think he could beat him? The boy looked like a big-mouthed loser.

"I don't have time for you, so get out" the raven said jumping towards the next roof.

"Wha… WAIT!" the blond boy yelled jumping after Sasuke, who grunted in irritation when he realized he was being followed. "Stop running away from me, you damn coward! Fight me, dammit!"

"I told you, get lost!" Sasuke said, easily jumping faster.

"I won't stop until you fight me, asshole! So stop and fight…!"

Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw the blond kid go straight against a wall and slowly fall to the ground, apparently unconscious.

Relieved, the raven continued running towards the Hokage Monument. He didn't have time to waste with some dumb kid.

* * *

><p><strong>Ouch! Poor Naruto… that has got to be humiliating. Don't worry, he's fine though. <strong>

**I know Naruto is the kind of person who's hard not to recognize, but if that happened too quickly the story would be as interesting. Besides, if I saw one of parents as a 12 year old, I probably wouldn't recognize them either. Kids usually think of their parents only as adults.**

**I hope you liked the chapter. See you next time!**


	8. Lost Chance

**Hi! I hope you keep enjoying this side story. This chapter is a bit small, but I hope you guys like it nonetheless. **

**Warning: Sasuke knows his grandparents had already died in "Phoenix Rising", but he has no idea that Naruto grew up as an orphan. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Lost Chance<strong>

失われた機会 _(Ushinawareta kikai)_

"Well, this is… unexpected" the Third Hokage said, after pulling his pipe out of his mouth.

Kakashi had just told him about his conversation with the_ Sasuke impersonator_ and his wishes to talk to Itachi. Hiruzen knew that he didn't blink or move when he heard Itachi's name, there was no way Kakashi could suspect of something wrong, yet, the old Hokage felt his heart beat faster and the beginning of a headache on the back of his skull. For Itachi, for Sasuke and for Konoha's sake, no one could know the truth behind the Uchiha Clan's Massacre.

The Sandaime had considered it one of his worst secrets and he wished, every single time he looked at Sasuke's vengeful eyes, that he could have changed what had happened that night.

Sacrifice. That was a concept every ninja needed to know by heart. In order to save, to protect something important, sometimes, one must give up something in return.

For the greater good… God! He hated that phrase.

"Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked, noticing that the old man was lost in thoughts.

"Hm? I'm listening, Kakashi" Hiruzen said, his eyes observant and in the present once more. "The truth is I'm as surprised as you are. If this person is an enemy spy from another village, he or she got the Uchiha information completely wrong. Why would a spy go through all this without taking the necessary precautions? It makes no sense."

"My thoughts exactly" Kakashi answered. "And why Uchiha Itachi? What could he want with him? He broke all his ties with the village a long time ago."

_"No… not quite"_ the Hokage thought to himself.

"I think we're missing something important" Kakashi continued. "Either this spy is too stupid or extremely clever and knows something we don't."

Hiruzen grabbed his pen so Kakashi wouldn't notice his twitching fingers. Could it be? Could this spy know the truth about Itachi's sacrifice? About the Uchihas' coup d'état?

"What should we do now, Sandaime?" Kakashi asked. "How do you wish we handle this?"

The Third didn't answer and quietly picked up his pipe again. He could think of dozens of actions, but the just couldn't decide which one was the best.

Sometimes, the best action led to the worst result.

* * *

><p>Sasuke stared at the huge red and white monument in front of him. From the books he had read, he recognized the building, it was the village's Academy. Inside, there was the Hokage's office.<p>

The raven was impressed. The building looked a lot older and worn out than in the pictures he'd seen, it was also slightly different.

_"I must have travelled back many, many years"_ the boy thought.

Gazing at the huge kanji for Fire in the giant sign, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a bit nervous and happy at the same time. He'd figured grandpa would be working in his office by now instead of being home, wherever that was.

He was finally going to meet him. He'd would go to grandpa Minato and ask if they could talk in private, then he would tell him everything. Sasuke knew that his grandfather probably wasn't going to believe him at first, but the boy knew things that could prove that he was telling the truth.

He remembered the first time he had seen his grandparents' picture during a cold winter night. It was only a few days after Sasuke had gotten his parents and Itachi's photos and seen their faces for the first time. Not long after he had hurt Naruto during Family Day.

* * *

><p><em>It had snowed so much that the kindergarten had closed, so Sasuke had to stay at home with his father. Naruto had bought three heaters to keep the house warm and cozy and they had played together all day until the blond fell asleep in the couch while Sasuke was drawing with his crayons.<em>

_The little boy pouted because he wanted his Dad to see his drawing but he knew he shouldn't wake him up. So, Sasuke went into his bedroom so he could play with his toys, however, he noticed something different in his father's bedside table as he walked past his bedroom._

_It was a photo of a blond man and a red haired woman. A photo Sasuke had never seen before._

_Filled with curiosity, the boy entered Naruto's room and grabbed the picture, staring at the couple._

_"Tou-chan?" Sasuke asked out loud, looking at the smiling blond man in the photograph._

_The man looked just like his father, down to the blond spiky hair and the sky-blue eyes. But the raven didn't recognize the lady beside him and his eyes widened as he noticed her large tummy. She was pregnant. There was a baby inside her!_

_"Sasuke?" the raven almost dropped the photo when Naruto suddenly entered the room, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "What are you doing?"_

_"I…" Sasuke answered, looking at his Dad and the picture in his hands, unsure if he had done something wrong. "I saw the photo… It wasn't in your room before."_

_Naruto looked confused for a moment until he finally noticed the picture frame on his son's hands._

_"Oh! That photo?" the blond man said, moving closer and taking the photograph gently from Sasuke. "I only got it two days ago. Baa-chan Tsunade brought it to me from Konoha."_

_Sasuke nodded at stared once more at the smiling couple. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. Why didn't Naruto tell him about that lady? Who was she? Was she Naruto's wife or girlfriend? Where was she? And where was the baby? Was that baby Naruto's?_

_"Daddy?" the boy asked. "Why did you take a picture with this lady?"_

_Naruto's blue eyes blinked and widened in obvious confusion._

_"Huh? What do you…?" it took him a few seconds until he realized what Sasuke was talking about. When he did, Naruto smiled, very amused. "You think that's me in the photo?"_

_Sasuke nodded so Naruto kneeled in front of the child so they both could stare at the picture._

_"Look closely, Sasuke" Naruto said, pointing at the blond man. "Take a good look at his cheeks. Don't they look different from mine?"_

_That's when the raven noticed it. The man didn't have his father's whiskers' marks._

_"He doesn't have your whiskers" the boy said, looking surprised. "So… that's not you?" Naruto shook his head. "Then who is he?"_

_"That's my Tou-chan" the blond revealed with a grin._

_"Your… Tou-chan?" Sasuke repeated with his black eyes wide._

_"Yeah"_

_"You look just like him!"_

_Naruto smiled._

_"I do, huh?"_

_Sasuke looked more closely at the picture, focusing now on the pregnant lady._

_"Wait… If that's your Dad…" Sasuke said, slowly. "Does that mean this lady is your Mom?"_

_"That's right. Those two are my parents."_

_"So… the baby inside her tummy…"_

_"That's me, alright" Naruto laughed._

_Sasuke was baffled. He had never thought of Naruto as a baby. In his mind, he always thought of him as a grown-up. It was weird seeing a photo where he was still inside his mommy's belly. He had never thought about his father's parents. He had never thought about his adoptive family at all._

_Sadly, Sasuke realized he knew a lot more about his first family than he did about his second. He had nagged Naruto about every detail he knew about his brother and parents but he never asked him about his current family. Sasuke had been too curious about his former life to think about that._

_But it wasn't that he didn't care about Naruto's family! It wasn't that he thought only his first family mattered! It wasn't that at all! Papa mattered. He was important and Sasuke wanted to know more about him and about his parents._

_His grandparents._

_"What are their names?" the little boy asked._

_"My Dad's name is Minato and my Mom's is Kushina" Naruto answered, visibly happy to be talking about his parents._

_Sasuke sat in his father's bed with his little feet dangling. "How come they never come to visit us like Baa-chan or Gaara-san?"_

_Naruto's smile wavered and his eyes became suddenly sad. He looked once more at his parents' photo._

_"They can't, Sasuke" the blond young man answered. "They died a long time ago."_

_Sasuke stiffened and looked sadly at Naruto as the latter also sat in the bed, holding the frame carefully._

_"I'm sorry, Papa" the boy said._

_"It's okay…"_

_"Do you miss them?"_

_Naruto nodded with his sad smile. Sasuke moved closer to him and rested his head against his chest, looking at the smiling faces Minato and Kushina. They looked like nice people, which made Sasuke feel sad that wouldn't get a chance to meet them._

_"How were they like?" the raven asked._

_"Hm? You want to know?"_

_"Of course I wanna know" Sasuke said, resolute. "They were my grandpa and grandma."_

_Naruto's eyes were filled with surprise before softening. Then, he told his son what he knew about his parents._

* * *

><p>After finding out that Naruto was a ninja, Sasuke had learned a lot of other things about his grandparents. It was cool to know that grandpa had been a Hokage and one of the most powerful shinobis that ever existed. Dad had told him about his space-time Ninjutsu and his amazing speed. Minato had been so fast that he been called <em>Konoha's Yellow Flash<em>. His father was pretty fast as well, and so was Sasuke.

The raven boy liked to think that he had got that from his father's side of the family.

Grandma Kushina had been pretty amazing as well. Naruto had told him how his parents had met and fallen in love and Sasuke was amazed that his grandma had been such a badass. _The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero_, that epitaph really suited her.

_"And now I'm going to meet them"_ the boy thought, finally walking towards the building.

There were two guards near the gate. As Sasuke walked towards them, they stopped chattering and looked at him with interest.

"I came to talk to the Hokage" Sasuke said, trying as hard as he could to sound mature. "Is he in his office?"

"Yes, he is" one of the guards said.

"Can I go talk to him?"

The guard with bandages around his nose shrugged "I don't see why not" he said before turning around to the other guard near the main door. "Open the door! Uchiha Sasuke is here to speak to Hokage-sama!"

_"Uchiha?"_ Sasuke thought, walking inside the huge building. At last he had found out his family name. His clan's name he supposed. Now he knew he belonged to the Uchiha's clan.

Correction, he had. He was happy to know his clan's name and he wanted to know more about it, however, he wasn't going to switch families. Sasuke couldn't be a complete Uchiha anymore. He was an Uzumaki as well and he wouldn't give that up. He couldn't.

As he walked through the empty corridors, Sasuke felt his heart beat faster and faster with anxiety. He guessed it was normal… not everyday someone could go talk to his dead grandpa.

He tried to imagine what he was going to find. He knew Minato had been a calm person unlike Naruto, who was boisterous and cheerful like his mother Kushina. The raven had figured that his grandfather would be in his office working devotedly, reading reports about other villages and trying to keep the village safe before going home or meet grandma.

The boy was wondering if they were dating or if they had gotten married yet, if Naruto was already around.

If his father had already been born, he would be very young. The raven chuckled as he imagined his famous and powerful Dad in diapers or playing in a playpen with his toys. It was surreal.

Sasuke woke up from his reverie as he heard voices coming from a door at the end of the hallway. This door was bigger and different from the others, so it must be the Hokage's office. Carefully and with his heart pounding, Sasuke knocked on the door.

The voices inside the room silenced and then a male voice shouted "Come in!"

Sasuke opened the door slowly and finally looked up "Excuse me... I wanted to talk to…"

The raven never finished his sentence and his onyx eyes widened in disbelief. First of all, he was shocked to see Kakashi there. Was this man everywhere Sasuke went? What was he doing in the Hokage's office?

"Sasuke?" Kakashi said. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke tried to answer but he couldn't divert his eyes from the man sitting at the desk, wearing the Hokage's hat and robes. The raven was expecting to see a blond man beneath those clothes. He was expecting to see Minato, his grandpa, looking right back at him.

Instead, he was staring at an old man he had never seen before.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Sasuke?" the old man said, without taking his eyes from the boy.

Sasuke looked from one side to the other, trying to find his grandfather in the room. When he couldn't, he became even more confused and nervous.

The raven was so puzzled that he didn't even notice the odd looks he was getting from both men.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi insisted. "Are you here to talk to the Hokage?"

Sasuke blinked and slowly nodded.

"Well… go head, Sasuke. What can I do for you?" the old man asked kindly.

"But… I… I came to talk to the Hokage" the raven stammered, too confused to even care about his strange behavior.

Kakashi and the old man frowned and exchanged looks.

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi asked. "Sandaime-sama is right in front of you."

Sasuke gaped and his eyes widened even more. Sandaime? That old man was the Third Hokage? What was he doing in this office? Why wasn't grandpa here?

"No… I wanted to talk to the Yondaime" the boy said, this time, noticing the shocked expressions on the men's faces. "Is he here? Is he in his home?"

For a moment, nobody spoke. Sasuke could feel his hands shaking and closed his fists, trying to calm down. Grandpa was probably just out. Maybe he went to see someone important and had asked the Third Hokage to replace him for a while. Yes… it had to be it.

"Sasuke… why do you want to talk to the Fourth?" Kakashi asked carefully.

"That's none of your business" the boy answered angrily.

The Sandaime put his pipe down and looked at the boy.

"Whatever you wanted to tell the Yondaime you can tell me as well" the old man said. But Sasuke shook his head.

"No, thanks. I need to tell the Yondaime something in private" the raven insisted. "When is he coming back?"

Hiruzen looked at Kakashi before answering.

"He won't be coming back" the old man said, noticing the genuine confusion in the pre-teen's eyes.

"What? Why not?" Sasuke asked.

This time, it was Kakashi who intervened.

"Because he's dead, Sasuke" the Copy Ninja said.

Sasuke's confusion was replaced by pure shock.

"What? Dead…? How…? That's not true!" the boy said with his voice trembling. "It's gotta be a mistake…"

"It's not a mistake" Hiruzen answered, studying the boy's reactions to his words. "The Fourth Hokage died protecting the village years ago" the old man stared right back at the raven's eyes. "Everyone knows that."

Sasuke couldn't think straight, let alone remember that he was acting suspiciously. Right now he didn't care. All he could think about was that his grandpa Minato was already dead. He couldn't talk to him, he couldn't meet him…

"Sasuke?" Kakashi asked carefully.

"I gotta go" the raven said, opening the door and running down the hall, leaving Kakashi and the Sandaime at a complete loss.

* * *

><p><strong>And Sasuke confuses everyone even more! Keep in mind, he's just six and he wants to go home to his family. Besides, he's not as level headed as he used to be.<strong>

**Tell me what you guys thought and thanks for reading!**


	9. The Worst Reunion

**Hi! It's been a while, huh? Real world tends to do this sometimes.**

**If you haven't noticed already, I've changed Sasuke's age here from seven to six years old. So, this story happens before Sasuke's seventh birthday on "Phoenix Rising."**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>The Worst Reunion<strong>

最悪の再会 _(Saiaku no saikai)_

"What… What just happened?" Kakashi murmured, more than baffled by fake-Sasuke's words. "What did he mean he wanted to talk to the Fourth in private? How come he didn't know he has been dead for twelve years?"

Hiruzen had enough experience in the ninja world to hardly be caught by surprise, but this was confusing beyond measure "I… honestly don't know what to think, Kakashi. On one hand, after seeing this boy with my own eyes, I have no doubts that he isn't Uchiha Sasuke. His mannerisms, his speaking pattern and even his personality are different. But… either he is an excellent actor, or he really looked deeply disturbed when I said the Yondaime died."

Kakashi placed a hand over his forehead, deep in thought.

"This doesn't make any sense" the white haired sensei said. "First he wants to talk with Itachi, now Minato-sensei? It's like this person came from the past. His Intel is utterly outdated! I have no idea what is intentions might be."

"It can't be helped; we need to wait to see what he's going to do next. So far he hasn't done anything to endanger the village" the old Hokage said. "Keep an eye on him Kakashi. Inform me of every move he does."

"Yes, sir" Kakashi said, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

The Sandaime leaned against his chair and breathed deeply. More than the confusing questions Sasuke had asked, it was his eyes that most troubled his thoughts.

Sasuke's eyes were those of a scared child. The same scared eyes he had seen in his face after his family had been killed before they changed into bitter anger and perpetual hatred towards his older brother.

Somehow, when _**this**_ Sasuke was talking, it was like he was in the presence of that innocent little boy he had once been.

* * *

><p>Sasuke couldn't stop running. It was like his body was moving on his own because his mind was in such turmoil. All he knew was that he had to get as far from the Hokage's Office as possible. Maybe he if ran away, he could erase what he had heard from Kakashi and the Third Hokage.<p>

The Fourth Hokage was dead. Minato was dead. His grandpa was dead.

"_This can't be right!"_ Sasuke thought, jumping to the roofs so he could avoid the villagers in the streets as he got dangerously close to tears. _"How can grandpa be dead? I came all the way to the past. I wanted to meet him… why does he have to be dead? It's not right! It's not fair!"_

Finally, the raven boy stopped and leaned his back against a wall. When he looked up, he saw Minato's face carved on the Hokage Mountain and couldn't hold on any longer as two thick tears ran down his cheeks.

"What am I gonna to do now?" the child whispered, sitting on the roof and hugging his knees. He felt completely lost now and, worst of it, he felt utterly alone. He didn't have anyone. Not his parents, not Itachi and not even grandpa Minato.

"I don't wanna stay here anymore… I wanna go home" he whimpered, covering his face with his knees. "I wanna go home now. I want my Daddy!"

Just thinking about Naruto made Sasuke's heart ache even more. Forget about his stupid pride! Sasuke didn't want to be independent and grown up yet. He was about to turn seven, he _**was**_ a little kid. He wanted to be a child and be looked after by his father.

He wanted to see Tou-chan again. He just missed him so much. Just a glimpse would be enough…

"_Wait a second!"_ the raven realized, widening his swollen dark eyes. "_The Third said that Grandpa died years ago, so that means… Tou-chan has to be here already!"_

This new thought immediately brought hope and happiness into Sasuke's heart. His grandfather could be dead, but he still could try and convince his grandma that he was her grandson and from the future. Maybe she could help. His family wasn't entirely gone.

Besides, he would be able to see his father again; even he was a little kid. That didn't matter, all the raven Uzumaki wanted was to be with him again.

Sniffing and cleaning his tears, Sasuke jumped to nearest roof. First, he would go the village's archive library, where he had learned that all information about Konoha's ninja was stored including, hopefully, his grandma Kushina. From there, he only needed to find her address and get ready for the most awkward conversation he ever had.

* * *

><p>When the fake-Sasuke arrived at the village's archive library, Kakashi was about to stop him. How could he let an unknown spy have access to Konoha's information? But then again… maybe this person was finally going to update his Intel and then go after what he wanted.<p>

Kakashi used a henge and turned into an old man. As he followed fake-Sasuke, the boy never once noticed that he was being watched. Or, if he did notice, he apparently had decided not to do anything about it.

"_What are you looking for?"_ the young sensei asked himself for the tenth time that morning, not even blinking as the raven ran his pale fingers through the books on the shelves.

After more than one hour, Sasuke finally found what he was searching for and took the book to a table, this time, trying not to be seen. However, his attempts to avoid being watched only included looking from one side to another and cover the book with his arms every time someone passed by him.

Pretending to be also looking for a book, Kakashi couldn't help but frown. Was this guy really a ninja? If he was, he definitely wasn't a good one. His methods resembled those of an Academy student… or Naruto.

Suddenly, Kakashi noticed fake-Sasuke frown in confusing and then exasperation as the scrolled the book back and forth several times; obviously looking for something that he was sure it was there.

With his fist clenched, the pre-teen placed the book angrily on the shelf and left the building. Quickly, Kakashi fetched the book. Fake-Sasuke had left the page he was reading a bit crumpled, so it wasn't difficult to find what he was reading. Once more, his eyes widened in pure shock as he read another name from a distant past.

Uzumaki Kushina.

* * *

><p>With his hands on his pockets, Sasuke walked slowly through the village's streets, trying not to burst into rage and despair.<p>

The only information the archive had on his grandmother was that she came from the Land of Eddies, attended and graduated from the Ninja Academy in Konoha and that her chakra allowed her to create chains to bind the enemy. That was it? One freaking paragraph was all they had on his grandma? Hell, even the what's-his-name ninja that was in the next page had ten pages dedicated to his life, and he had died when he was fifteen!

Now how was he supposed to find his grandma and his Dad? He could just ask around but that could take ages.

"_This isn't fair! It's like someone is taking everyone I want to see from me!"_ Sasuke thought. _"Why can't I just find them? I wanna see my family! Is that so freaking hard?" _he stopped and looked sadly at Minato's carved head. _"Tou-chan… I want to see you…"_

"There you are, bastard!" someone yelled jumping in front of Sasuke.

"Wha…?" that was all the raven could say before a kid dressed in orange glared at him. "What do you want?"

If possible, the kid became even more pissed off. "What do mean "what do I want"? I want to kick your stuck-up ass, butthead! And you're not running away this time!"

Sasuke blinked in confusion until he remembered the annoying boy that had tried to fight him earlier in the morning.

"You again" the raven said angrily, his frustration reaching dangerous levels. "I said I don't have time for you, so just leave me alone."

The blond shook his head and pointed a finger at Sasuke.

"No freaking way, Sasuke-teme!" he yelled, making the other villagers stop around them in curiosity. "You and I are going to fight now! You're gonna take back all you said at the warehouse! I don't care what Kakashi-sensei says!"

Sasuke's eyes widened and he looked at the noisy blond more carefully, finally recognizing his glare from his team photo. So that was the third member… the screw-up that Sakura was always complaining about.

"_Geez… __**this**__ is my other teammate? What a dumbass!"_ Sasuke thought bitterly, glaring at the orange dressed blond. _"I don't have time for this. I need to find my father, who is probably in some kindergarten right now or being adored by the villagers like a prince. I can't waste time with this loudmouth!"_

"I'm telling you, get out of my way" the raven said. "I have better things to do."

"We're fighting and that's it!" the blond yelled, running towards Sasuke to punch him.

The attack was so obvious that the raven boy easily avoided it at kicked the blond on the stomach.

"Damn you!" the boy roared, trying once more punch and kick Sasuke to no avail.

"Seriously… Is that all you got?" Sasuke teased with a snotty grin. "I'm not even trying hard. You really are a screw-up."

The blonds' blue eyes were filled with anger. "Shut up! I'm not a screw-up, you dripping piece of shit! And I'll show it to you! I'll rip that stupid smile of your face."

A sizeable crowd had now surrounded the two boys to watch them fight. Most people were laughing at the blonds pitiful fighting skills while the others were cheering Sasuke on.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun! You're the best!"

"Sasuke-kun, kick his ass!"

"Finish that loser, Sasuke-kun!"

The blond flushed with anger and glared at Sasuke. Once more, no one, not even a single person was rotting for him. Like always…

"Not this time! I'm gonna show you what I can do!" the boy yelled.

"You already did" Sasuke answered, tired of this stupid spar. "You already showed everyone that you can't do anything, so beat it!"

"Never! I'll prove it to you… I'll prove to everybody! I'm not a loser!" with that, the blond created five clones and, again, charged towards Sasuke.

The raven was slightly surprised that this dumb boy could use clones at all, but he wasn't worried. He was used to fighting clones with his Dad, so the blonds were child's play. With a few punches, Sasuke quickly dispelled the clones.

Sasuke was used to sparring against Riku, his teachers in Unmei, Gaara-san, Tsunade Baa-chan and his father, who was the greatest ninja in the world. This boy was a joke compared to all of them.

The raven needed to end this fight now; he had to find Tou-chan.

"You're mine!" the blond yelled as he jumped towards Sasuke, using the clone's smoke as a cover. However, Sasuke saw him clearly and punched him right in the face, making the boy fly across the street until he crashed against a wall and fell into a bunch of garbage cans.

The crowd went wild with laughter, pointing at the defeated blond, booing and insulting him nonstop.

"That'll teach you. I told you to leave me alone" Sasuke said. "You had what was coming to you… hopeless loser!"

The boy didn't say a thing as he tried to stand up, covered with filth, a huge bruise on his cheek and dripping blood from his lip. His Hitai-ate fell from his head and landed on a puddle of mud.

Sasuke turned around and walked away, meanwhile, all around, people kept congratulating him.

"You are so awesome, Sasuke-kun."

"That was amazing! You sure kicked his sorry ass!"

"You're the coolest!"

In the meantime, as the blond got up and grabbed his dirty headband, the villagers and some ninja continued to demean him.

"That will show you not to mess with a real ninja, you douche!"

"Yeah, you're the worst!"

"If I were you, I'd run into a hole and die! You're an embarrassment!"

"Someone like you doesn't deserve to be a ninja!"

"You suck, Naruto!"

Sasuke turned around so quickly that he accidently hit someone, but he didn't even noticed it.

"What… what did they just call him?" the raven asked, looking at the blond he just defeated.

"I'm so sorry for you, Sasuke-kun" a girl next to him said. "You didn't deserve to be teamed up with that drop-out. Everyone knows that Uzumaki Naruto is a lost cause."

Sasuke's eyes got impossibly wide as he registered the blond's name.

"Uzumaki… Naruto?" he whispered, watching the defeated boy stand up with his head down as the crowd continued to insult him.

"_It can't be… it's… it's not possible!"_ Sasuke thought as he looked at the blond more closely. _"Tou-chan is a hero… a star! Everyone admires him. Everyone wants to be like him. They're always praising him. He's so strong… and this guy…"_

"Naruto, you're such a loser!" the crowd continued.

"You suck, Naruto. Why don't you just get lost and die?"

The blond glared at the villagers and then at Sasuke. His blue eyes were so filled with anger, humiliation and sorrow that the raven was taken aback. Then, it was like a veil that had been place over his eyes was abruptly lifted and Sasuke finally saw what he had been too oblivious to notice.

He saw the bright blond hair that would grow longer one day, the sky-blue eyes, the unmistakable whisker marks on his dirty cheeks.

"Tou... Tou-chan?" Sasuke whispered in both bewilderment and dismay.

Trembling with rage and shame, Naruto felt his eyes watering and jumped to the nearest roof, running away from the laughter and the insults as quickly as he could despite the pain that pierced his body.

On the other hand, Sasuke stretched his hand in his direction. "Wait! No, come back!"

But it was useless; Naruto had already disappeared and didn't even hear him.

"_What… what did I do?"_ the raven boy thought, horrified.

"What an idiot!" another ninja said. "We all knew he was a hopeless loser from the start. He's a shame to this village and he'll never get anywhere."

Sasuke felt his fists closing and shaking.

"He's so dumb that he'll most likely get killed by falling into his own kunai. What a joke!"

The crowd, once again, burst out laughing. Out of the blue, Sasuke punched the other shinobi right in the face, effectively silencing everyone.

"Don't you ever... EVER MAKE FUN OF HIM AGAIN!" Sasuke yelled, his Sharingan activated eyes glaring dangerously at the entire crowd.

Then, the raven boy jumped to the roofs and ran after his humiliated father.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so Sasuke just utterly humiliated his dad in front of a crowd… not good, for both of them.<strong>

**In Sasuke's defense, he was already very frustrated and got carried away. Besides, he's Sasuke! He's cocky! His rebirth didn't change that personality trait.**

**I know the chapter is small and… yeah… cliffy again. Sorry!**

**Still, I hope you liked it! Feel free to review! Should I aim for the 200 reviews? ^_^**

**See ya!**


	10. Surprises

**Hi there! I felt inspired to write so… I just did.**

**This chapter ended up having a little of everything: adventure, angst, fluff and even comedy (warning: some may not find it funny!).**

**Here it goes!**

* * *

><p><strong>Surprises<strong>

驚き _(Odoroki)_

Kakashi was _**really**_ getting tired of being confused.

After finding out that fake-Sasuke had tried to gather information on Uzumaki Kushina, the white haired Jōnin had continued following the impostor through the village's streets, wondering what his next move could possibly be.

Uchiha Itachi, Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Kushina… what could he want with those people?

Kakashi was called a genius, but even he couldn't find a logical reason for someone to control/possess Sasuke's body and then find out information about a rouge ninja, a dead Hokage and his wife. There was no connection between those three, so what could the impostor possibly want?

Fake-Sasuke's face had been twisted with frustration as he walked down the streets, so Kakashi could only assume that his plan wasn't working. When Naruto had jumped in front of the impostor, yelling and challenging him to a fight, the Jōnin rolled his eyes but waited, hidden on a nearby roof, to see what fake-Sasuke would do.

Actually, he had acted pretty much like the real Uchiha Sasuke he knew. Taunting Naruto's fighting skills (which Kakashi mentally reminded himself to give him a better training session) and swiftly defeating the boisterous blond. Everything was going normally until fake-Sasuke heard Naruto's name and turned around to observe his overpowered opponent. Unfortunately, Kakashi couldn't see his lips so he didn't know what the raven had said right after that, but when Naruto ran off he could hear the impostor calling for him to come back.

Even more surprising, fake-Sasuke had punched another shinobi for insulting Naruto and yelled at the entire crowd to never make fun of him again, before running after the blond. The raven seemed genuinely concerned about Naruto, his onyx eyes wide with confusion and his face twisted with regret.

Once more, Kakashi followed the impostor. After all that, there wasn't anything that could surprise and confuse him anymore.

* * *

><p>Sasuke ran after Naruto as fast as he could, but his Dad had already disappeared from his sight.<p>

"_I can't believe it… that kid… is he really Tou-chan?"_ Sasuke thought, still jumping from roof to roof. _"He sure looks a lot like him, but… Tou-chan is strong, cool and very popular. He's a hero! Everyone says so! That boy was weak and dumb. How can he be my Dad?"_

Sasuke just couldn't combine the two Narutos, his legendary father and the knucklehead boy he had just beaten up. The Uzumaki Naruto he had known his entire life was of a silly but kind man, who was stronger than he looked and revered everywhere he went as hero and a savior.

Ever since Sasuke had found out his Dad was a ninja, he came to idolize him, wanting to be as strong and amazing as he was so they could fight together when Sasuke was old enough. However, there was a part of him, a dark side of his heart, which resented and envied Naruto's strength.

The adoption didn't make anything easier. Knowing that Naruto wasn't his birth father just made him doubt himself even more and wonder if he could ever be like him. Sasuke had always been good at school and he knew that he was talented, still he looked at his Dad and he felt so far behind.

It didn't matter how many times Naruto had told him how weak he had been as a child, Sasuke never truly believed him. Just like when he had tried to tell him in the Queen's Palace.

* * *

><p><em>"It's not all about power, Sasuke. Being strong and famous is not the same thing as being acknowledged. When I was younger, I was really weak… and dumb."<em>

_"Yeah, right…" Sasuke mumbled sarcastically._

_"I'm serious. The thing is, I never quit" Naruto continued. "I kept trying until…"_

_"Tou-chan, stop it! I know you're just saying that so I'll feel better, but I'm not!" Sasuke interrupted. "You were always strong, everybody says so! Nobody even notices me when you're around. I'm like a shadow! I'm not powerful or amazing like you… I'm just your weak **adopted son!**"_

* * *

><p>Now, after what Sasuke had witnessed, he realized his Dad was probably telling him the truth, even though he still couldn't believe it. It was too much to take! In his previous life he had been a genius and popular ninja and his future father had been his screw-up teammate? That was beyond insane! Sasuke had imagined like a million possibilities about his first life, but none came close to this.<p>

How could that loser turn into the hero his father was? And why in the world would he ever adopt Sasuke when he seemed to hate him so much?

When his Sharingan saw someone dressed in orange, Sasuke stopped and hide behind a chimney. A few seconds later he recognized Naruto, all dirty and bruised. The raven wanted to go to him and apologize, but he knew no one would accept and apology for having been defeated. It was humiliating.

Besides, what was Sasuke supposed to say?

_I'm sorry I beat you up and, by the way, I'm your future son that was your teammate but I was regressed by my brother so you adopted me._

Yeah… Not only Naruto wouldn't believe him, but he would also think Sasuke was completely nuts. Maybe he just needed time to calm down and then Sasuke could tell him and grandma Kushina the truth.

Meanwhile, all the raven could do was wait and watch his future father from afar.

Naruto went to a small fountain in the street to wash his hair, face and hands. Around him, a group of small kids was watching him, asking why he looked like that and covering their noses because of his garbage stench.

"Mimi! Akio! Come here!" a woman called.

"Chiharu, come here this instant!" a man called.

Soon, all the kids' parents or relatives had made them leave Naruto's side. Confused, Sasuke leaned closer, trying to hear them.

"How many times have I told you? Don't go near that boy."

"I don't want you or your sister to talk to that kid."

"I've told you not to speak to him. Why did you disobey me?"

"If he ever comes near you, I want you to run home. You hear me?"

Sasuke's eyes widened with dismay. Why were those parents forbidding his kids from talking or even be near his Dad? He didn't do anything to them! He was just washing his face, yet they were acting like he was some kind of terrible monster that could attack them without warning.

Naruto finished washing his hands, obviously trying to ignore them. While Sasuke felt shocked and revolted, Naruto just frowned and continued what he was doing.

"You! Brat!" a huge man yelled, approaching the blond.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked with defiance.

"We want you to go away now" the man said, glaring at the boy.

"Says who?" Naruto yelled back. "This is a public fountain!"

"We don't want you here" the man continued, backed up by the other parents behind him. "Get out of here or we'll make you leave!"

Sasuke was stunned with the man's angry voice. He was dead serious. He would make Naruto leave by force if he had to. There was so much hate in his eyes.

No. It wasn't just that man. Every grown up was glaring at Naruto with angry and resentful eyes. They all hated him.

"_Why are they doing this? Why do they hate him so much?"_ Sasuke thought, trying with all his might not to go down there and beat every one of them into a bloody pulp, which he thought that was what Tou-chan was about to do.

Naruto, however, simply glared at them, his fists clenched and trembling. "Fine! I'll go! Have your stupid fountain! Drink until you drown for all I care!"

"Why you little demon!" the man said, ready to attack Naruto.

In a blink of an eye, Naruto jumped to the roofs and ran off again. As much as Sasuke wanted to make a barbecue out of those horrible people with his Katon, he decided to follow his father, determined not to lose him from his sight.

Instead of going home, like Sasuke was expecting, Naruto jumped from the roof to the trees on the outskirts of the village until he stopped right by the river.

Again, Sasuke chose to hide in a nearby tree, allowing him to see Naruto perfectly. The blond was panting and winced a little bit because of his injuries, however, the swelling and the bruise on his cheek looked a lot better thanks to his quick healing.

Suddenly, he started screaming, letting out all his frustration, shame and sorrow. Then, he started kicking and punching every rock and tree that got in his way.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" he yelled as he punched a rock, which shattered into pieces. "Why? Why did I have to lose? Why do I always have to lose?"

Sasuke stood still, though his throat was painfully tightened.

"It's not fair! I trained so hard!" Naruto went on. "Why can't I win? Just once… I wanted to beat Sasuke! Why nothing I do it's ever enough? Why… why…?"

Naruto fell on his knees, his hands pressed against the ground. His whole body shaking as his tears ran down his face. "It's not… fair. What the hell is wrong with me? I'm always losing, no matter… no matter what I do… I'm always… alone…"

Hidden by the foliage, Sasuke felt hot tears running down his own cheeks. His heart was aching, shattered by his own guilt for hurting the person who he loved the most, appalled by the knowledge of what his Dad had gone through. None of Sasuke's problems even came close to what Naruto had suffered.

His Tou-chan had not only been lonely, he had been despised and that was a kind of pain Sasuke would never understand.

Unintentionally, he stretched his arm in Naruto's direction. He wanted to go to him and promise that everything was gonna be okay. He wanted to hug him tightly and tell him how cool he was going to be in the future; how everybody loved him and… that they were going to be a family.

"_Daddy, don't cry. Please don't cry"_ Sasuke thought, as his own tears fell freely, feeling his father's pain like his own. _"You're not alone. You're not going to be alone. You'll have lots of friends and everybody will see how amazing you really are. So just… don't be so sad. I don't wanna see you sad anymore."_

After sobbing for a while, Naruto got up, clean his tears with the back of his hand and walked towards the river. He took of his jacket and pants and washed them on the river, and then he put them on a rock to dry while he grabbed some kunai and shuriken from his pouch.

"It's no use crying" he said, the sadness from his eyes replaced by his resolve. "I'm gonna try harder and harder. I'll get stronger in no time and then I can show them I'm not a loser."

As Naruto trained with his weapons, Sasuke could only stare at him with tears still brimming in his dark eyes. If it had been him, Sasuke didn't know if he would ever get over his despair and just keep trying. Giving up and hide from the pain was so much easier, but…

"Crap! It missed!" Naruto yelled. "Okay then. I'll try again until I got it!"

"_Tou-chan never gives up"_ the raven child though, a tiny smile on his lips. _"He's strong! If those guys don't see it, that's their loss."_

Naruto was missing most his targets because he couldn't keep himself calm and concentrated. Besides his stomach was rumbling. He needed food. **Now**.

"Hey, Naruto!" a familiar voice called from the woods.

Sasuke shrunk against the tree and watched attentively as a young man with a pony-tail and a scar across his nose approached his exhausted father.

"Iruka-sensei! What you doing here?" the blond asked.

"I could hear you from miles" the sensei said. "I came to see what you were up to."

"I'm training, sensei!" Naruto yelled, clearly offended. "I spent the whole afternoon training here."

"You did, huh?" Iruka frowned has he looked at the scattered kunai. "Weren't you supposed to hit the trees with those kunai?"

"Ah… Some did…"

"Honestly" Iruka sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you, Naruto? You need to be focused on the targets. If don't concentrate, you'll never hit them."

Naruto rolled his eyes and nodded. On the other hand, Sasuke muffled a chuckle with his hand. Now he knew where Tou-chan got all his advices from.

"Anyway… I came to ask you if you wanted to go to Ichiraku with me. That is… if your training is over."

Naruto's eyes shone like stars. "Are you kidding me? It's over! Let's go eat sensei!"

"Alright, but you better get dressed first" Iruka pointed to Naruto's green boxers.

"Ah, sure!" the excited blond said, getting dressed as fast as he could.

Sasuke followed them from a safe distance, using the crowd to hide him. When they got to the small restaurant, the raven felt jealous. He had heard about Ichiraku all his life and how great the ramen was. Now that he was so close he could smell it, he couldn't even eat it! And man, he was starving! Besides, it probably hadn't been a good idea to use his Sharingan all day. His head and his eyes were starting to hurt… a lot!

Being careful not to be seen, Sasuke found a hiding place near Ichiraku's walls. He could hear Naruto and Iruka-sensei even if he couldn't see them. Though he was a bit confused…

It was night already. Shouldn't Naruto head home to have dinner with his mom? Why didn't he even warn her that he was going to eat with Iruka-sensei? Wouldn't she be worried?

"Ah! Ichiraku ramen is the best! Ojii-chan, another bowl! Iruka-sensei is paying tonight!"

"Right up" Teuchi said, getting another bowl ready.

"Hey! Just because I'm paying doesn't mean you can eat until you burst" Iruka yelled.

"Ah! Ah! Right! Sorry, sensei! But free ramen tastes even better!" Naruto said with a mischievous grin.

When Naruto's second bowl arrived, Iruka's eyes stared at his former student with a bit of sadness.

"Ne, Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you alright?" the sensei asked carefully. "I… I heard about your fight against Sasuke today."

Both Naruto and Sasuke stiffened.

"I'm fine, sensei" Naruto said, without looking away from his bowl. "I lost, but I'll beat him someday. You'll see."

"I'm sure you will, Naruto" Iruka answered, still worried. "It's just… I heard about the… _commotion_ after your fight. It must have been hard for you."

Sasuke moved a bit closer so he could see a bit of his father's face. Naruto was smiling, though it was a fake smile that made Sasuke's heart twinge.

"Oh, well… I'm used to it, Iruka-sensei" Naruto said, trying to dismiss it. "They always made fun of me and cheer Sasuke on. That's the way it is."

The blond put down his empty bowl, still he didn't face Iruka. "Sasuke is… perfect. He's popular and strong and… I'm not on his level. Not even close."

"Maybe you should try to focus more on your teamwork with him. After all, you guys are on the same team now" Iruka said. "I'm sure after a few missions together you're going to become friends."

"Friends? Me and him?" Naruto yelled. "That will never happen. He thinks I'm just a loser. He keeps insulting me and saying that I'm stupid and a lousy ninja."

Sasuke lowered his eyes, feeling his chest heavy.

"You know Sasuke" Iruka said kindly. "Being a genius sometimes gets into his head. But I know he's lonely, even if he doesn't want to admit it to himself."

"But everybody likes him! He's, like, the most popular guy around!"

"He might be popular, but he doesn't let anyone near him. He doesn't have any friends, that's why I think you two could end up being great friends."

"He hates me!" Naruto answered, his blue filled with sadness. "He said I shouldn't be a ninja in the first place because I'm such a loser. He… he'll never want to be my friend."

Sasuke had to bit his lip to stop it from trembling. Had he really said that? Was he such a prick on his first life? Was that why he was always alone? Because he was too mean to have friends even though he was popular.

Worst, was he still like that?

"I'm telling you, Naruto" Iruka went on. "You guys are going to be best friends. Meanwhile, just keep doing your best and don't waver. You still have to become the Hokage, right?"

"Right! I'm gonna be greatest Hokage ever!" the blond boy exclaimed happily.

"That's the spirit."

Shortly after, Naruto thanked his sensei for the ramen and headed home.

"_Finally!"_ Sasuke thought, following his Dad. _"Now I can see grandma! Tou-chan is in such big trouble. Grandma is gonna punish him for getting home this late."_

When Naruto arrived at his apartment, Sasuke jumped to the nearest roof, hoping to see something from the windows. Fortunately, his Tou-chan didn't close any window, so the raven watched as the blond got to the kitchen to drink a glass of milk and then went to his bedroom, tossing his clothes to the floor, dressing his pajamas and getting into his bed.

Sasuke was confused. Where was grandma? Why didn't she come to greet her son? Could she already be asleep in another bedroom and Naruto didn't want to awake her up?

After his father had fallen asleep, Sasuke left the roof and went to the front door of the apartment. Using a kunai, the raven was barely able to open the lock and entered the silent house.

Walking as silently as he could, though he knew his Dad slept like a log, Sasuke tried to find his grandmother's bedroom. Much to his dismay, he couldn't find it. Not only that, there no traces of his grandma on that apartment. No room, no clothes, no bathroom stuff for ladies… nothing. That was like she…

Then it hit him, painfully like a rock.

"_She doesn't live here"_ Sasuke realized.

Sasuke continued looking but to no avail. He couldn't find anything of hers or even grandpa's. Not even pictures of them.

Carefully, Sasuke entered his father's bedroom. It was mess, with clothes, scrolls and empty food wraps all over the floor. Now Sasuke knew where he had got that trait from.

Naruto was fast asleep in his bed, hugging his pillow and kicking his covers out of the bed. Sasuke looked around the room, hoping to find something about his grandparents like the picture his Dad had on his bedside table, but it wasn't there.

The only picture he found was the same one he had on his house. The Team 7 photo, nothing else. That was his only picture, he didn't have any more.

Could it be… that grandma was already dead too?

Sasuke felt his throat close and tears in his tired eyes as he looked at his father.

"_Tou-chan… you're an orphan? You didn't have a family either?"_ Sasuke thought filled with sadness over his Dad's loneliness. _"How could you live like this? How could you be so cheerful when you were so alone?"_

As he moved closer to his father's bed, Sasuke caught a glimpse of his reflection on Naruto's full body mirror. It still bothered him how different he was from his usual self. He wanted to be himself again, the person Uzumaki Naruto had raised.

Frowning, Sasuke pulled his fringe until it covered his forehead like it usually did in his second life. When he looked back at the mirror with his different hairstyle, he felt relieved. Now, he looked a bit more like Uzumaki Sasuke.

"Huhmmm…" Naruto groaned in his sleep. "No…"

Sasuke got near his father and watched as his face twisted, like he was having a nightmare. The raven kneeled and ran his hand over his back and head, trying to make him feel better. If there was anything he could do to help Tou-chan he would do it.

Suddenly, Naruto's arms grabbed him by the neck and pulled him close.

"Wha…? Wait! I can't…" Sasuke whispered, trying to leave. However, Naruto hugged him harder and pushed his head to his chest.

"Don't…" the blond moaned, holding him tightly but tenderly. "Don't go…"

Sasuke stopped struggling and let Naruto hug him. It felt so nice to be with his Daddy again. It felt so right. Just like when Sasuke slipped into his bed after he had a nightmare.

Maybe he could stay there for a little while, just to rest a bit. Then he could go the Compound.

Stretching his arm, Sasuke grabbed the blanket and covered them with it. Then, the raven boy leaned his face against his father's chest. He was so tired and his eyes hurt so much that he decided to close them for a little while.

With his foggy mind and his eyes closed, Sasuke relaxed completely. His Dad's scent was still the same, so he momentarily forgot that he was in a twelve year old body, that he was in the past, that his father was a kid his age. No one of it mattered anymore. Right now, he was six year old Uzumaki Sasuke again.

"Daddy… I missed you" he whispered against Naruto's shirt.

When his father started to stroke his hair like he used to, Sasuke hugged him back and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Just outside Naruto's apartment, Hatake Kakashi's jaw completely dropped.<p>

He had followed fake-Sasuke all day, watching him as he spied on Naruto. Then, he had stayed alert and ready to intervene when the raven broke into his blond student's home and looked around.

When Kakashi thought this couldn't get any weirder, the impostor had lay down next to Naruto and they had fallen asleep in each other's arms like some yaoi hentai that would leave many girls satisfied.

"What the hell is going on in here?" he whispered.

It couldn't be helped. Kakashi made a clone and sent him to the Hokage to report, meanwhile he would stay on that roof all night if he had to, but he wouldn't let the impostor out of his sight.

* * *

><p>When the sunlight got his face, Sasuke groaned and buried his face on his Daddy's chest. He felt so warm and cozy that he didn't want to get up just yet. Besides, Tou-chan would wake him up when he had to go to school.<p>

Since the annoying light wasn't going away, Sasuke opened his eyes and stared at an unknown window. Blinking in confusion, the raven boy felt his feet touching his father's, which, by the way, seemed… smaller?

"Wha…?" Sasuke whimpered as he looked up.

His onyx eyes widened in shock as he stared at Naruto's much younger face. He looked like… a kid!

That's when Sasuke remembered everything. His Dad wasn't younger, he had travelled to the past and he currently was his father's teammate who claimed to hate him.

"_Crap!"_ Sasuke thought, trying to move away from Naruto.

Unfortunately, the blond chose that precise moment to awake up as well. So Sasuke only had time to pull himself out of the bed before Naruto opened his eyes and fell right on his ass.

"Ouch!" he groaned in pain, which proved to be even a bigger mistake because Naruto opened his eyes completely and sat at the bed, startled by the noise.

"What?" the blond asked, his eyes still adjusting to the light. "What his going on?"

When Naruto saw someone on his bedroom floor, he had to blink several times until his vision improved. Then, he finally recognized that it was Sasuke.

"Oh… Sasuke, it just you…" he said, yawning. Only a second later, his blue eyes got incredibly wide and he stared at the raven once more. "SASUKE? What the hell are you doing here?"

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, that last part kind of looked like yaoi, but it wasn't. At least I didn't intend to (though I have nothing against it, I don't want that for this fic. There are already hundreds of those around and I'm trying something different.)<strong>

**So… Kakashi was confused, now he's way beyond that! His brain might explode if he doesn't get some consistent answers soon.**

**Please tell me what you think so far. I appreciate all of your reviews!**

**See ya later!**


	11. Hold My Hand

**Hello! Before of all, I want to thank all of you who helped me reach more than the 200 reviews I was expecting. THANK YOU!**

**Now, I guess I have to warn you that there might be some shonen-ai in this chapter, if you squint… with one eye closed. Still, here's the warning.**

**Once again, no pairings and no yaoi in this fic.**

_**"Inner Sakura"**_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Hold My Hand<strong>

俺の手を保持 _(Ore no te o hoji)_

"_Say something, damn it! Anything!"_ Sasuke's mind ordered him since he was still glued to the floor while Naruto's shocked eyes were focused on him. _"You can't stay there forever, so just say something! Or move! Get up!"_

When his brain finally connected to his body, Sasuke got up. Still, the raven remained silent because he hadn't the slightest idea about what to say to his Dad. There was no way he could tell him that he had broken into his house in the middle of the night and slept with him. Naruto would be creeped out!

Actually, he already was.

"Sasuke! What the hell are you doing in my house?" the blond yelled. Sasuke had never been to his apartment before. Hell, Naruto didn't even know that he knew his address. Now, his greatest rival was staring at him while Naruto was in his pajamas and his messy bedroom. "Why are you here? How did you get in?"

"I… I broke in" Sasuke blurted out, too nervous to think of a lie. "I unlocked the door with a kunai."

"You WHAT?" Naruto yelled, getting out of his bed and facing his teammate with a very angry glare. "Why the hell did you do that, teme?"

Just hearing his father calling him "_teme_" like he used to during their bickering, Sasuke awoke from his daze and his mind started working again. "I knocked but you were sleeping like the dead, usuratonkachi! I had to break in to wake you up!"

"And why did you do that?" the blond demanded to know, still uncomfortable that Sasuke was seeing him in his pajamas.

"Because… Because I came to get you" Sasuke lied, looking at their team's photo. "You're late for our training."

"Huh? What are you…?" Naruto looked at his clock. It was almost nine! "Holy shit! I forgot to set the alarm! Kakashi-sensei is gonna kill me!"

Not wasting another second, Naruto grabbed some clothes from the floor and ran directly to the bathroom.

Sasuke felt a drop of sweat running down his forehead and let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. That was close! Of course if Naruto was late for their training session, so was Sasuke, but the raven didn't feel worried about that. There were most important thinks on his mind. Like… when and how was he going to tell his father the truth about him?

He had been nervous when he thought he would have to tell his grandparents and then face his baby father. But now… it was a lot worse. Naruto was his teammate! He was his age! He hated him!

"_How can I tell him who I am if he doesn't even like me?"_ Sasuke thought, lowering his face.

At the sound of the toilet flush, Naruto got out fully dressed and still pulling the zipper of his pants.

"Aren't you going to wash your hands? Gross!" Sasuke teased out of habit. Every time either he or Tou-chan forgot, the other would mischievously remind the other. However, 12 year old Naruto didn't know that and glared at raven boy, blushing in shame.

"Shut up, bastard! Mind your own business" the blond said, though he returned to the bathroom to wash his hands.

Sasuke couldn't help it and winced at Naruto's words. It didn't matter that his father was currently younger and shorter than him; Sasuke still didn't like when he was angry at him or yelled. He wanted Daddy to like him, just like he used to.

Naruto had always been the one who wanted to hug Sasuke and coddle him all the time. Even when he was with the other adults, Tou-chan always came back to Sasuke's side as if he wanted to be with him more than with anyone else. Usually, Sasuke was the one who got embarrassed by his affection and pushed him away.

It never crossed his young mind that, one day, Naruto would do it to him.

"_I need to make him like me first"_ the raven thought. _"If we become friends, then I can tell him who I really am."_

"Why are you still standing there?" the blond asked, running to his kitchen.

"I'm… waiting for you" Sasuke said, watching as Naruto drank a full bottle of milk in one gulp. "I came to get you, remember?"

"Hmph… Putting on airs like always" Naruto snorted, glancing at Sasuke before his blue eyes focused on his forehead. "Hey? Where's your Hitai-ate?"

"Huh?" Sasuke placed a hand on his fringe. That's right! He had left it in his bedroom. "I guess I forgot it at home. Whatever…"

Naruto looked perplexed. "_Whatever_? That's the proof that we're shinobi from the Leaf. You can't just forget about it."

Feeling like he was being lectured, Sasuke had to try not to nod and answer respectfully. "It's just for today. Come on! We need to go. Kakashi and Sakura are waiting already."

Sasuke grabbed onto Naruto's hand and dragged him towards the door. However, Naruto angrily jerked his hand away, stunning the raven. "I can go by myself, teme. I know the way! You go get your forehead protector. We'll meet at the bridge."

Naruto closed his door with the key and jumped to the roof, leaving a dejected Sasuke on his doorstep, still looking at his hand.

"Papa…" he whimpered silently, trying as hard as he could not to cry.

* * *

><p>Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. First of all, Sasuke had come to pick him up at his home, something the raven haired bastard he knew would never do. Then, Sasuke had grabbed his hand. <em>His hand!<em> Not his arm or even his jacket, but _his hand!_

He had never seen Sasuke grab or held someone's hand before, it was… so un-Sasuke. Besides, he had done it so lightly. Again, something the Sasuke he knew wouldn't do. Naruto had been so surprised by it that he impulsively pulled away.

Lastly, and most important of all, Naruto could have sworn that when he had jerked his hand away, Sasuke looked upset.

"_Okay… that is just not possible"_ the blond thought to himself. _"C'mon! Sasuke hates my guts; he wouldn't be offended by something like that. I must have imagined it. Maybe I just wanted us to be friends too much." _

When Naruto reached the bridge, Sakura and Kakashi were already there. If his sensei had arrived before he did, that meant Naruto was totally screwed. First his disastrous missions and now he was late… Kakashi's impression of Naruto should be going from bad to worse.

"Hi!" the blond boy said, rubbing the back of his head with an awkward smile.

"Naruto! Where were you?" Sakura groaned, glaring at her teammate. "We were supposed to meet at 7 a.m.!"

"Sorry I'm late… my alarm didn't go off."

"That's not an excuse. You should be more responsible" Sakura replied.

Naruto lowered his eyes. "Sorry, Sakura-chan…"

"C'mon, Sakura. It's alright" Kakashi said. "It could happen to anyone."

The girl sighed and looked behind Naruto, her green eyes going from angry to disappointed. "Didn't you see Sasuke-kun?"

"Yeah… He forgot his forehead protector so he had to go back home and get it" Naruto explained.

"Oh? I see" Sakura replied, somewhat relieved. That was the second time Sasuke didn't show up in time and she was getting worried something had happened to him. Lately, Sasuke was acting so strange.

"Ne, Ne! Sakura-chan… Why don't we train together?" Naruto asked with a smile.

"No! I want to wait for Sasuke-kun" she said bluntly, disappointing the blond.

"Naruto?" Kakashi called. "Was Sasuke at your house this morning?"

"Huh? Yes, he was. That bastard broke into my apartment to wake me up" Naruto explained. "He told me he had come to get me. Why are you asking, sensei? Didn't you send him?"

Kakashi nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes, I did. I just wanted to make sure."

"Make sure of what?"

"That he was able to break into a genin's house. Naruto, you need to improve your home security."

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms around his chest. Again, Kakashi was demeaning him and making Sasuke look like the greatest shinobi ever.

Unknown to Naruto, Kakashi's intentions weren't to praise Sasuke's skills at all. The Jōnin had stayed all night spying the boys. When Sasuke woke up and rolled out of the bed, he had watched them arguing until Naruto left to the bridge and fake-Sasuke to the Uchiha Compound.

It seemed that the impostor was now interested in Naruto, though it was still too soon to tell. This was the most unpredictable spy Kakashi had ever faced. Could that be also part of his plan?

"Oh! Sasuke-kun is coming!" Sakura exclaimed with a smile as the brooding Uchiha arrived with his Hitai-ate on his forehead.

"Sorry, I'm late" Sasuke said.

"It's alright. We know you had to go get your forehead protector. It could happen to anyone" Sakura said cheerfully, much to Naruto's dismay.

"But… But Sakura-chan…" the blond stammered. "You got mad at me because I was late…"

The girl glared at Naruto. "You overslept, baka Naruto! Sasuke-kun would be here on time if it wasn't for you!"

Naruto could only lower his head with a gloomy expression on his face. That's when Sasuke got it.

"_Oh crap! Tou-chan likes her!"_ the raven though. _"And she likes me! Now he's really going to hate me!"_

It was so weird to see his father having a crush on a girl and she didn't like him back. In the future, Naruto was going to become so handsome that girls literally flocked around him. That had been one of the few things that people said they were alike. However, Sasuke didn't like when Daddy got along with the ladies. He didn't want a stepmother!

"By the way, Sasuke-kun… You changed your hair" Sakura went on, blushing and with stars in her eyes. "It looks great on you."

Sasuke chose not to answer, but Naruto still glared at him. This was going from bad to worse.

"Now that we're all here, let me explain you what we're going to do today" Kakashi said. "We're going to split into two teams and practice your Taijutsu in pairs. Just Taijutsu, no weapons or Ninjutsu are allowed."

"Taijutsu?" Naruto asked. "But sensei, we learned all about that in the Academy! Why don't you teach us harder stuff?"

"Naruto! How can you learn harder jutsu when you still fail at the basic ones? You need to walk before you run."

"Oh…" Naruto whispered. "That sucks, Kakashi-sensei…"

Sasuke glanced at his father, slightly surprised. During their training in the future, Sasuke usually asked him to teach him stronger techniques, nevertheless Tou-chan only allowed it once Sasuke perfected the basic ones, much to the raven's chagrin.

"_Tou-chan… you were just like me"_ Sasuke thought, with a tiny smile on his lips.

"Well… Since Sasuke and I are the stronger ones" Kakashi said, earning another glare from Naruto. "Sasuke will get to pick his training partner and I'll train with the one left."

"Hey! How come Sasuke-teme gets to choose? I can… Ouch!" Naruto yelled after Sakura punched him in the head.

"Shut up, baka Naruto! Sensei is totally right! Sasuke-kun is the best, he gets to choose" then she beamed seductively at her crush. "Go head, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke stared at his two teammates. "I choose Naruto."

There was an uncomfortable silence while the three remaining members of Team 7 stared wide eyed at Sasuke.

"Eh?" Naruto said.

"Wha…?" Sakura shrieked.

"Hmm" Kakashi muttered.

"What's with all of you?" Sasuke asked, turning to their sensei. "Kakashi said I could choose my partner and I did. I choose Naruto!"

Naruto was too taken aback too speak. As for Sakura, she was exasperated.

"_**Naruto? Sasuke-kun chose NARUTO over me? Why? Why did this happen? WHY?"**_

"Well, it's decided then. Sasuke and Naruto are going to the Fifth Training Ground" Kakashi said, moving towards Sakura before she died of an aneurism. "Sakura and I will be at the Third Training Ground. We'll all meet here at sun set, understood?"

"Right" the three Genin said, thought both Naruto and Sakura still looked dumbfounded by Sasuke's decision.

"Like I said no weapons and no Ninjutsu" the Jōnin guide reminded them. "Learn to use what's around you. The trees, the rocks, the river… Let's go, Sakura!"

"Hai…" the pink haired kunoichi said halfheartedly, following her sensei.

Kakashi glanced at the two boys as they jumped in the opposite direction. Fake-Sasuke's choice confirmed his suspicions. It was Naruto that we was after, Kakashi was sure of it. The question was, why? Did he know Naruto was the Yondaime's son? Or was he after the Kyuubi inside the blond's body?

Under his orders, Pakkun followed the boys. If the impostor tried to harm Naruto in any way, he would immediately warn Kakashi.

* * *

><p>The Fifth Training Ground was a vast area surrounded by huge trees, most of it around the 60 meters. On the ground, the two boys could barely see the sun because of all that foliage and thick branches.<p>

Naruto glanced at the raven for the tenth time. Strangely, Sasuke had let him go ahead (he didn't know Sasuke had no idea where the training ground was!) and the two haven't spoken a word to each other ever since they left the bridge.

Sasuke was definitely acting strange today. First their encounter in his apartment and now this? What was he up to?

"Hey, Sasuke?" Naruto finally asked, facing the raven.

"What?"

Naruto frowned, his eyes filled with distrust. "Why did you choose me to train with you?"

Sasuke blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean! You're always saying that I have zero skills and that I'm a hindrance" Naruto groaned. "You never want to pair with me at _**anything**_. So why now? What are you up to?"

Sasuke felt his chest aching as he heard Naruto's accusations. No wonder he hated him and didn't trust him if Sasuke had said all those terrible things. Still, Sasuke had to pull himself together if he wanted his plan to work. He had to act like Uchiha Sasuke for a little longer, even if all he really wanted right now was his new life, his _real life_ back. He wanted his father back.

"_I want you to be my Daddy again"_ Sasuke thought, his head slightly dizzy. "I'm not up to anything. I just want to train with you, that's it."

"Train with me? Why? I'm not letting you rub yesterday's fight in my face, if that's what you want."

"You're wrong!" Sasuke replied, shutting Naruto up. "I'm not here to brag or make fun of you, usuratonkachi! I just want to fight you!"

Naruto's blue eyes widened in disbelief. "You want… to fight me?"

"Yes! You don't think while you fight and that's why you keep losing, but you're strong" Sasuke said, shocking the blond pre-teen even more. "You're stronger than you think and you have lots of potential. You're going to be Hokage right? That's why I want you to fight me!"

Naruto gaped, his eyes fixed on the boy he made his rival. The person who he had fought for so long. The person he wanted to acknowledge him more than anyone.

"_Sasuke thinks I'm strong"_ Naruto thought still unable to believe it. _"He… he finally thinks I'm a worthy rival. He acknowledged me."_

Sasuke wasn't sure if what he had said was a good idea. His father was astonished, his eyes very wide. Then, his lips twitched and he gave him the biggest smile he had ever seen.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Naruto asked, cheerfully facing Sasuke in a battle stance. "Let's gets this training started!"

Sasuke smiled too and the two boys started fighting against each other, running in the ground and then jumping to the trees and fighting on the branches. After less than twenty minutes, the training turned into more of a friendly spar. Both boys just wrestling and throwing insults at each other, while having fun. Naruto was as happy as he could be!

Meanwhile, even though he was trying to hide it, Sasuke was feeling increasingly tired. His head felt dizzy and there was something wrong with his legs… they felt wobbly. Plus, his vision was starting to blur.

"Hey, bastard! You're getting slow!" Naruto teased, oblivious to his teammate's condition and jumping to another branch. "Come and get me if you can, lazy bum! I'm gonna beat you!"

"Hmph! Fat chance of that happening" Sasuke replied, jumping towards Naruto. However, Sasuke never made it to the tree branch.

Suddenly, the raven's vision became completely blurred. His body lost all his strength and he started falling right before Naruto's horrified eyes.

"SASUKE!" Naruto cried out, grabbing the raven's hand at the last second. "Sasuke, hold on!"

Sasuke slowly looked up, his face pale and confused, his glassy eyes looking at Naruto while the latter struggled to pull him to the tree branch.

"C'mon, Sasuke! Hang in there!" Naruto yelled, grabbing Sasuke's hand with all the strength he had. "Keep holding on! Just grab my hand! I won't let go, you hear me!"

"Pa… pa…" Sasuke whispered, his vision of Naruto fading into darkness as he fainted. _"Papa, I won't let go of your hand. Never… never again…"_

Naruto's arm was hurting from holding Sasuke's body. The raven had fainted, so it was completely up to Naruto to pull him up. There was no way he could drop Sasuke, they were like 50 meters from the ground. Sasuke would die from the fall.

"I'm not dropping you, teme!" Naruto said, though he knew he was mostly talking to himself. "There's no way in hell I'm gonna let you fall!"

Screaming, the blond pulled his teammate's body with everything he had. Though he was sure he had strained a muscle, Naruto didn't stop pulling until Sasuke's body was safely away from the edge of the branch. Without wasting another second, Naruto pulled Sasuke against him and shook him.

"Sasuke? Sasuke? Sasuke, wake up! What is wrong with you?"

Sasuke didn't even move. His skin was terribly pale, clammy and, even though he was ice cold, he was sweating.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, felling Sasuke's pounding heart against his own. "Sensei, help! Sasuke is sick! Help! Please, somebody help!"

Hidden in a nearby tree, Pakkun decided to go tell Kakashi want had happened and disappeared. Meanwhile, Naruto was trembling with panic and fear. He didn't know a thing about what to do when someone faints. He couldn't understand why it happened; Sasuke had been just fine a while ago and he was sure he wasn't injured.

"_What if he dies?"_ a voice in his subconscious asked. _"What if Sasuke dies while you just stood there and did nothing?"_

After two minutes, Naruto couldn't wait anymore. He had to do something! So he took a kunai from his pouch and carved on the tree "we, hospital", hoping Kakashi would understand. Then, he placed Sasuke on his back and jumped towards the village.

When he got to the hospital, Naruto pulled everybody out of his away.

"Help! My teammate is very sick!" the blond yelled, ignoring the disapproving stares from the other people, he wouldn't stop yelling until someone helped Sasuke.

Someone dressed in white came to him and immediately started asking questions, while another took Sasuke's limp body from Naruto's back and placed him in a gurney.

"What were you doing when he fainted?" the medic-nin asked.

"We were training. We were just training and then he fainted" Naruto replied, terribly close to tears as he watched the other nurse and doctor take Sasuke's shirt off to hear his breathing and heartbeat with an auscultator. "Is he going to be okay? Is he dying?"

"Easy, we're still trying to know what happened" the medic continued, trying to calm the blond. "Does he usually faint? Do you know if he has some sort of disease?"

"How the hell should I know!" Naruto yelled. "Stop asking me these stupid questions and heal him!"

"We can't heal him unless we know what could have caused this" the medic-nin said slowly but sternly, placing two strong hands on Naruto's shoulders. "I understand that you're very worried, but if you want to help him, you have to remain calm and tell us as much as you can."

Naruto felt a tear running down his cheek. He knew he was supposed to remain calm, shinobi couldn't panic and he had trained in the Academy for situations like these, but… real life was nothing compared to those simulations.

"I can't let him die" Naruto whimpered, too worried to notice that he was acting like a scared little boy. "He's my friend… my best friend! I don't want him to die!"

"So help us know what's wrong with him" the doctor said gently. "If you can't, then go find his family and bring them here."

Naruto shook his head and stared at Sasuke's pale face. "He doesn't have a family anymore… I'll do it, doctor-san. I'm calm now! I'll tell you everything I know."

The medic-nin smiled. "He's lucky to have you. I hope he knows that."

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes later, Naruto was sitting in a chair beside Sasuke's gurney, watching impatiently as the intravenous fluids dropped into Sasuke's vein. They couldn't give him a bed because the hospital was currently full.<p>

After Naruto answered all their questions, the medic-nin took a blood sample from Sasuke and left. A few minutes later, a different nurse came and gave Sasuke an injection and then started his IV therapy. No matter how many times Naruto asked her if Sasuke was going to be okay, the nurse only said that they were still running some tests and then the medic-nin would talk to him. All Naruto could do for now was waiting with Sasuke. His eyes diverting from the raven to the beeping monitor which recorded the raven's heartbeats.

Sasuke actually looked better. His color was returning and he was breathing slowly, even his heartbeats were slower now. He looked like he was just resting, though he still looked a bit sick.

Unexpectedly, Sasuke moved a little. Naruto immediately got up and stared at his teammate in expectation. "Sasuke?"

The raven boy opened his eyes very slowly, blinking several times at the ceiling.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked, not hiding how worried he felt. "Are you okay?"

Sasuke turned his head towards Naruto and stared at him with a lethargic and confused gaze, bags under his onyx eyes. "Where…?"

"I took you to the hospital" Naruto said, trying to smile so Sasuke wouldn't feel upset. Seeing Sasuke like this, made Naruto feel rather protective of him, though he couldn't explain why. "You fainted when we were training, you wuss. Too bad I couldn't beat you before!"

Sasuke continued staring at Naruto, though it looked like he couldn't understand what he was saying or who he was. "My head… hurts…" he moaned feebly.

"It's… gonna be okay" Naruto said. "I… I'll get a nurse for you. I'll be right back."

But, the moment Naruto turned to leave, Sasuke grabbed his jacket.

"No! Don't leave!" the raven pleaded, his voice sounding just like a child's. "Don't go, Tou-chan."

Naruto's eyes became impossibly wide and he froze to the ground, staring at Sasuke. "What… What did you just say?"

"Stay here, Tou-chan… please" Sasuke asked, grabbing Naruto's jacket with no intention of letting him go.

Naruto moved closer to his raven teammate, still perplexed by what he had just heard. Did Uchiha Sasuke, his infamous rival, just call him _**Tou-chan**_?

"Sasuke… you… you're confused" Naruto stammered, his cheeks a little blushed. "I'm not your…"

"I didn't let go of your hand, Tou-chan" Sasuke went on, like he didn't even heard Naruto. "I… didn't. Just like you said."

Naruto continued to stare, wide eyed, as Sasuke's hand moved from his jacket to his hand and grabbed it. To Naruto's surprise, the raven's hand was actually very smooth and warm and he was holding Naruto's hand so tenderly that the blond boy didn't have the heart to jerk it away this time.

So he held his hand back.

"Are you still mad at me?" Sasuke asked feebly, his childlike eyes looking sadder than ever. "I don't want you to hate me, Tou-chan."

"No… I'm not mad at you" Naruto said, his other hand, instinctively, stroking the boy's hair. "And I don't hate you, Sasuke. Don't be silly…"

Sasuke looked right into Naruto's eyes and smiled. It was a gentle and honest smile, just like a child's, which made Naruto feel some warm and strange feeling on his chest.

"I'm really sleepy…" the boy said, barely able to keep his eyes open.

"It's alright. You can sleep" Naruto said, smiling softly.

"You won't leave. Right, Tou-chan?" Sasuke pleaded with fear written all over his eyes.

"I promise I won't leave you" Naruto said, not thinking anymore, just letting his heart guide his words. "I'll be right here when you wake up."

Sasuke smiled again and nodded before finally closing his eyes. Almost instantly, he was fast asleep.

Even thought the raven was no longer conscious, Naruto didn't let go of his hand and continued stroking his black hair with a caring expression on his whiskered face.

"_When I have a son, I want him to be just like you"_ Naruto thought. Seconds later, his hand stopped stroking Sasuke's head and let go of his hand, moving away from the sleeping raven. _"What the… what was I just thinking? I did not just think that! I did not just wish that Sasuke was my son!"_

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto almost jumped in fright until he saw the medic-nin that was responsible for Sasuke. "Ah? Y-Yes?"

"I'm here to talk to you about your friend's condition" she said with a smile. "He's going to be just fine. He had hypoglycemia, that's why he fainted."

Naruto frowned in confusion. "He had a hypo-what?"

"Hypoglycemia" she repeated. "It means that the sugar in his blood was low, probably because he didn't eat for more than a day and then went to a training session. No wonder he fainted, he pushed himself too hard."

Naruto had to think for a few seconds until the information sank in. "So… this means he's gonna be okay? He was just tired and hungry?"

The doctor smiled awkwardly. "If you want to put it bluntly… yes."

The blond turned to the unconscious raven, glaring at him with rage. "You freaking asshole! You got me all worried! I thought you were going to die! You scared the shit out of me!"

"Hey! Quiet!" the medic-nin yelled, punching Naruto's head. "This is a hospital, you brat! There are people here that need their sleep, so _just keep quiet_!"

"Hai! Hai!" Naruto answered, rubbing the bump on his head (were doctors even allowed to punch people in the hospital?). "So… what happens now?"

"Hmm. He doesn't need to be in the hospital" she said. "He would be more comfortable resting at home… as long as there is someone there to look after him until he's 100%."

"Huh? Why is that?"

"Well… He's still unstable and he needs to eat food with lots of sugar, like candy, to get better. Besides, if he's home alone as he is, he could fall and hit his head or seriously get injured. That's why he needs someone to look after him for a while."

Once again, Naruto stared at his raven teammate. He looked so fragile and tired… there was no away he could leave him all alone. Besides…

"_Promised I would be there when he woke up"_ Naruto thought. It didn't matter that Sasuke was confused at the time, it was still a promise and Naruto never went back on his word. "I'll take him to my house, doctor-san. Just tell me what I have to do."

Unknown to them, Kakashi was under a henge not far from where they were. After Pakkun had told him what had happened, he made a clone and left him training with Sakura.

He had underestimated the spy. His performance with Naruto had been very convincing and inducing hypoglycemia on himself to gain Naruto's trust and sympathy had been genius.

It was time for Kakashi to make his own move, enough was enough.

* * *

><p><strong>And Kakashi had enough! Took him a while, huh?<strong>

**Just to make sure, Naruto felt fatherly love towards Sasuke (I mean, who wouldn't ^_^)**

**BTW, the treatment Sasuke got is what we actually do to treat hypoglycemia. Though I maybe I have exaggerated a little, since he's not diabetic or suffers from other conditions. Oh well… I've read and seen lots of characters in a coma (mine included) and none of them ever has a catheter in the urinary orifice (how do they pee?).**

**Sorry for rambling! I hope you liked this and please help me reach the 300 reviews (sorry, I'm greedy!)**

**See ya!**


	12. It's Over

**Hi! Small chapter, I know. But a lot is happening. **

**I hope you like this! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>It's Over<strong>

それは終わった _(Sore wa owatta)_

Naruto jumped carefully and slowly from roof to roof with an unconscious Sasuke on his back. There was no way he could walk down the streets with his teammate like this. People would stare at them or even threaten Naruto, which he couldn't allow now that he had to look after Sasuke.

"_This day has got to be the weirdest day ever"_ the blond boy thought, glancing at the sleeping raven.

When he finally got to his apartment, Naruto went to his bedroom and placed Sasuke on his bed, taking both his sandals and his forehead protector to make him more comfortable. Then, the blond pre-teen covered him with a sheet and a warm blanket.

"There! All comfy" Naruto said, as he watched his teammate sleeping peacefully, his chest rising and falling as he breathed. His color had returned, which was a good sign. At least he didn't look so sickly like before.

Sasuke had really scared Naruto this time. He actually thought the raven was going to die. Even if Sasuke had been just tired and hungry, which was a rookie mistake that Sasuke should have prevented, Naruto couldn't forget what the raven boy had said in the hospital.

_Tou-chan_. Sasuke had called him Tou-chan! He must have been so confused that he thought Naruto was his father. Man… when Sasuke regained his senses he was going to be embarrassed for life! Mistaking his so called "Dobe" teammate for his father? That was too much!

"_He seemed so sure that I was his Dad too" _Naruto thought, watching the sleeping Uchiha. _"The way he talked… he really sounded like a little kid. I guess he must really miss his Tou-chan."_

Naruto had never seen Sasuke look so vulnerable before, so sad and scared. The blond never had any parents, thus he couldn't really understand him, but he knew how it was like to feel all alone and abandoned. He could only imagine that it must be worse for Sasuke, because he had a family and lost it, unlike Naruto who didn't have anyone from the start.

Looking at his messy bedroom, Naruto decided that if there ever was a time to clean his house, this would be it. He never had guests before, except for the old man Hokage and Iruka-sensei. Naruto had never thought that one day Sasuke, _**the**_ Uchiha Sasuke, would stay in his house. It was way too surreal.

But before he fainted, Sasuke had acknowledged Naruto. He said he wanted to fight him and that he had potential. Sasuke even claimed that Naruto was gonna be Hokage. There were no words that could describe how happy the blond boy felt. Finally the person who he admired the most and who he strived to be had noticed and accepted him.

Sasuke was his friend now for sure.

Anyway, the blond rolled up his sleeves and picked his clothes and books from the floor, trying not to make any noise. Fortunately, he had gone shopping and bought a whole bunch of instant ramen and candy. Even if Sasuke refused to eat, Naruto was more than eager to shove them down his throat. That bastard was never going to scare him like that again!

* * *

><p><em>Sasuke didn't know where he was. Last thing he remembered was jumping towards a tree branch while he was training with his Dad, then it all went black. <em>

_The boy looked around him and saw that he was in some sort of endless corridor. Somehow there was a strange red light coming from nowhere, so he could see the walls and the floor._

"_Where am I?" Sasuke placed a hand on his throat. His voice was higher, like his regular child voice. As he looked at his hands and the rest of his body, his suspicions were confirmed. He was a kid again. _"_But… why? Did I go back to the future?"_

_Confused, the child started walking down the corridor, attentive to any sound, which was none. Everything was dead silent except for the sound of his footsteps and his nervous breathing. This wasn't the future, he couldn't quite explain it but he felt like this place wasn't even real._

"_Then… I'm dead? Did I fell of that tree and died?" the boy whimpered, his eyes tearing up. "No! I'm don't wanna be dead… "_

_Trembling, Sasuke hugged himself and kneeled on the floor. How could he be dead? It wasn't fair, he was too young! There were some many things he still wanted to do. He didn't want to die yet. He didn't want to leave everybody behind._

"_Daddy… help me…" the child cried._

_**Noise. What an annoying noise.**_

_Sasuke blinked and looked around. He was sure he had heard a voice. _

"_He-Hello? Is anyone there?" the young raven asked warily. And why did that voice sound so familiar?_

_**Stop with the questions. So annoying.**_

_Sasuke stood up and a door appeared before his eyes. Curious and also scared, the boy didn't see much of a choice and slowly opened the door._

_It was a big room, like a dojo. The walls were white and the floor was made of wood. There was a single window which illuminated half of the room with the moonlight. On the dark half, there was somebody sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall._

_Sasuke entered the room and walked carefully towards the person. To his dismay, he saw a pre-teen boy chained to the wall, sleeping. Sasuke didn't even need one second to recognize him, after all he had been living in his body for days now._

_The boy was Uchiha Sasuke, his past self. This was where his mind had been all this time._

_The young Uzumaki moved closer to his elder self and watched his sleeping features. Though he was immobilized with chains, he looked very peaceful._

_**Who are you?**_

_The child almost fell on his back. He recognized his older self voice, but the other Sasuke was still sleeping. Was this telepathy, or something?_

_**I can feel someone here. What do you want? **_

"_I… I don't want anything" future Sasuke said. "I don't know how I came here."_

_**I was resting. Leave!**_

_Sasuke frowned at the grumpy voice. "I would if I knew how!"_

_**Not my problem. Get out.**_

_The young boy pouted. Was his older self really that stuck up? All Sasuke did was come here and the elder boy was already acting like he was a pest that he wanted to get rid of as fast as possible. _

"_It is your problem, 'cause if I can't leave I'll be trapped here with you, bastard!" _

_**Naruto?**_

_The raven boy blinked in confusion. "What?"_

_**Is that you, Naruto? **_

_Sasuke stared at his elder self for a few seconds, not knowing what to reply. Was that Sasuke mistaking him with his father? He couldn't sense that he was talking to himself? _

"_No, I… I'm not Naruto" the boy answered. "Why do you ask?"_

_**I can feel him in you.**_

_Sasuke gaped. He felt his Dad in him? _

"_You feel … Naruto in me?" Sasuke asked, feeling his chest somewhat warm. _

_**Yeah… and you sound just as annoying as he is.**_

"_What? I'm not annoying!" the child cried out. "And Naruto isn't annoying either."_

_**Hmph! He's a hopeless loser who likes to talk big. It annoys me just to hear him talk.**_

_Sasuke was appalled to hear his other self say those things with such contempt in his voice. "How can you say that? He's your friend!" _

_**Friend? As if I need something like that. I want to become stronger and I can't because that damn loser keeps screwing up our missions and bring me down with him.**_

"_He's weak now but his going to become very strong!" the Uzumaki said. "He's gonna be stronger than you!"_

_There was a small hesitation before the elder Sasuke spoke again._

_**Don't… Don't be ridiculous. That idiot will never be stronger than me. He just can't!**_

_Sasuke was surprised as he sensed fear and jealousy mixed in his past self arrogance. The boy realized that he could sense all his feelings. Under the Uchiha's thick layer of pride, there was a lot of sadness, loneliness and fear of being weak and insignificant. The young boy's angry expression softened, because he too had felt that same way sometimes. Now he understood where that came from._

"_Naruto wants to be strong so you can accept him" Sasuke said. "Why are you so angry at him? You're lonely and you want to be his friend too."_

_**What? No, I don't!**_

"_Yes, you do! I can feel it because this is your heart" the boy said, pointing to his past self body. "You can't lie to me."_

_**Shut up, brat. You're getting me mad. Who the hell are you?**_

"_You really don't know? I'm you" the child answered, facing his past self with a defiant frown._

_**That is the stupidest lie I've ever heard. **_

"_I'm serious! I'm the person you're gonna become in the future" Sasuke said, though he could sense the other Sasuke's cynicism and also disgust that he was comparing himself to him._

**_I'm going to become _you_? You have to be either very dumb or very daring to say that to me. I would never become someone as childish and idiotic. Only weaklings like Naruto feel the need to have other people around to lick his wounds and depend on to survive. I'm strong on my own and that his true power!_**

_The boy trembled as he felt the huge amount of dark emotions overflowing from the sleeping Uchiha. His lust for power, ambition, arrogance and hatred had practically eclipsed every other positive emotion he might have. He was like a black flame of destruction._

"_I… You don't mean that. You _**can't **_mean that" the child whispered, his heart shattered by fear and utter disappointment. This person couldn't be his past self! He just couldn't! He wasn't this twisted boy who seemed to have a block of ice where his heart was meant to be._

_This Sasuke couldn't possibly be the person his Dad wanted to be friends with. _

_**I've had it with you. Get out!**_

_Sasuke felt a strong force pull him out of the dojo room. The last thing he sensed in his elder self was that he had gone back to sleep._

* * *

><p>When Sasuke opened his eyes he saw darkness. For a moment, he thought he was still in that dark dojo of his dream (or whatever that was), but then he saw a window at his left and saw the familiar Konoha buildings in front.<p>

As he looked around, Sasuke recognized his father's bedroom, although it was shipshape now.

"_Why am I here?"_ the boy thought, sitting on the warm bed and looking around again.

The room was definitely tidier than before, there was nothing on the ground anymore and even the dust had been cleaned. Still, Sasuke could feel his father's scent, especially on his sheets, which brought back good yet painful memories of their house when he went to his bedroom just to be together with him after a long day at school.

The boy felt his lips trembling and his eyes teary. God! How could he have been such a mean and scary person? Past Sasuke was nothing what he had imagined him to be and it broke his heart. Sure, he was still pretty smug and he was kind of a loner, but he wasn't a cold as that boy he had seen.

He got along with his teachers and his classmates, even that jackass Riku. He thought of Tsunade, Shizune, Iruka-sensei and even Gaara-san like his aunts and uncles; Shikamaru and his team were always nice to him and Naruto… Daddy was the person he admired and loved the most in the whole world! He was his best friend.

Once, on Sasuke's fifth birthday, he remembered asking Naruto if he had known him in his first life. Sasuke felt that he had known his Dad forever and he felt that they had been friends because he felt a good, warm feeling when he thought about is past life with Tou-chan. But now, he thought that maybe that had all been just wishful thinking.

Who would want to be friends with someone like he was? He hated Uchiha Sasuke, despite knowing that he was himself. How could a guy like him ever get any friends?

There was a sound of a chair moving and then footsteps coming closer. Before the raven boy could stand up, someone turned on the bedroom light.

"Hey! You woke up!" Naruto said with a huge smile on his face, moving next to his teammate. "How are you feeling, Sasuke?"

Still overwhelmed by his "dream", Sasuke remained silent and kept staring at his Dad's smiling face. He looked so happy to see him awake and so concerned despite all the harsh things his past self had probably said to him.

"Sasuke? Are you okay?" Naruto asked, kneeling on the floor and staring directly into Sasuke's onyx eyes. "You fainted when we were training back in the forest, you know? I didn't know what else to do… I mean… You scared the shit out of me, so I brought to the hospital and the doctor told me you passed out because you had a hypy… hypegli… hypoglo… You were hungry! Seriously! Why didn't you eat before we went training? That's like the most basic rule!"

Sasuke's eyes widened as he registered the genuine worry in Naruto's eyes. He really cared about him and acted just like in the future when the raven did something reckless. That only made Sasuke want to tell him the whole truth right away and get his father back, but he knew it was too soon and he didn't want to mess it up.

"I… I was so busy yesterday, that I didn't have time to eat" the raven answered, trying not to look away. "Anyway… why am I in your house?"

Naruto's cheeks got a bit blushed and he scratched the back of his head. "Well… the doctor said that you needed someone to look after you until you got better, so I volunteered to _**babysit**_ you."

Automatically, Sasuke frowned and glared at the smirking blond. "Hey! I don't need a babysitter, idiot! I'm just fine!"

Conveniently, Sasuke's stomach decided that it was the perfect time to roar like a caged beast, causing the raven's face to go red and Naruto's grin grow even wider.

"Haha! I knew you were hungry! Your belly can't lie" Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm and pulled him carefully towards the kitchen, where the table was already set with several cups of heated ramen.

Sasuke sat at the table and his eyes widened as he saw all his favorite food. It took him a hard time not to drool.

"Now you're gonna eat everything I tell you to, teme" Naruto said. "Doctor's orders! I don't care that you hate the food. You can fuss all that you want but… Huh?"

Naruto had been so busy talking that he didn't even notice that Sasuke had already eaten half a cup of ramen with obvious delight. The blond was so taken aback that he didn't say another word until Sasuke finished and stared at him again with his chopsticks in the air.

"More!" the raven demanded, his mouth and chin dirty from the gravy.

"Ah… Sure, here it is" the blond pre-teen answered as he gave Sasuke another cup and watched in awe the raven devour it. God Lord! Not even Naruto ate that fast and desperately. "You like ramen?"

Sasuke finished his second cup and picked the third one.

"Of course" the raven answered, talking between gulps.

"You do? I thought you only ate fresh vegetables and healthy food" Naruto said, pulling his cup towards him before Sasuke ate it too. "Since when did start eating ramen?"

Sasuke finished his third cup and felt incredibly satisfied. When stared at Naruto, he looked a bit nervous.

"I love ramen since I was a little kid" Sasuke revealed, deciding to start sharing his true past. "It was my Dad's favorite food and we usually ate it together."

Naruto blinked and stopped eating his ramen. It was strange enough that Sasuke was willingly sharing with him a memory of his family, but it also reminded the blond what had happened in the hospital when he called Naruto _"Tou-chan"_ over and over.

"Hm… So… how was your Dad like?" Naruto asked, not really sure why he felt so curious about it. "I mean… I'm just curious."

Meanwhile, Sasuke tried very hard not to smile with joy, the plan was working. "Tou-chan was cheerful man that made everybody laugh. He was always smiling and he never wanted anyone to be sad. He was also very brave and strong… like he wasn't afraid of anything."

Naruto looked at his cup with a small smile. "Sounds like a cool Tou-chan…"

"Yeah, the coolest" Sasuke said, glancing at the blond. "He wasn't like the other adults, but he was strict when he had to. Most of the time, we liked to walk and train together."

"I see… You must really miss him, huh?" Naruto said.

Sasuke nodded with a sad smile. "He was… just like you."

"What? Just like me?"

"Yes, because he was silly and acted like a kid. He was like a grown-up and cooler version of you."

Naruto didn't know what to say. This was all so unexpected! Sasuke had always been so composed, cool and reserved. It wasn't like him to share all this personal details about his family, let alone with Naruto who he had claimed, more than once, that he couldn't stand him. Also, Naruto resembled Sasuke's Tou-chan? That was very hard to believe. Was that why Sasuke had mistaken the blond for his father at the hospital?

"Eh? Sasuke?" Naruto asked carefully. "Do you… remember what you said when you woke up in the hospital?"

Sasuke frowned. "Huh? I woke up in the hospital?"

"You mean you don't remember?"

"No. All I remember was falling down the tree. What did I say?"

"Oh! Nothing really" Naruto said. "You were confused and babbling for a minute. I was just curious if you remembered. It's not important!"

Sasuke could tell that his father was hiding something from him. "Tell me! What did I say?"

"It doesn't mean anything, Sasuke. Really!" the blond boy replied, blushing again.

"I want to know" the raven answered, unwavering.

"You said… well… You called me Tou-chan" Naruto finally said, blushing with awkwardness while Sasuke could only gape in awe. Seeing the look on the raven's face, Naruto hastened to add. "Don't worry! I'm not gonna make fun of you, it's not right. You were very confused, Sasuke. It didn't mean anything!"

To Naruto's confusion, he saw Sasuke's expression go from surprised to upset.

"It didn't mean… anything?" the raven repeated slowly and lowering his gaze.

"Sasuke? What's the matter?" the blond boy asked. He thought he was reassuring Sasuke that he wasn't going to humiliate him, so why was the raven so sad all of sudden? "Did I say something that I shouldn't?"

Sasuke felt his palms sweaty and his heart beating in his chest. This was it! He had to tell him the truth now. He couldn't wait anymore.

"Look, Sasuke… It's no big a deal. You were sick and…"

"Naruto!"

Out of the blue, Sasuke got up and walked towards the still sitting Naruto. Before the blond could react, Sasuke place his two hands on the blond's shoulders and made him look at Sasuke in the eyes.

"Sasuke? What are you doing?"

"I gotta tell you something important" the raven said to the dismayed blond boy. "You might not believe me at first, but I have to tell you."

"Te-Tell me what?"

Sasuke took a deep breath and finally opened his mouth. "I'm really…"

Sasuke's sentence was interrupted when he felt someone point something sharp to his neck and pull him away from Naruto.

"I think that's enough" Kakashi said, holding Sasuke's arms behind his back and pressing a kunai to his throat. "Show is over."

Naruto's front door opened and five ANBU entered his kitchen, surrounding the boys and Kakashi.

"NO! Kakashi, let me go!" Sasuke cried out, trying to free himself in vain.

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen" the Jōnin said calmly. "You've roamed free to too long already."

"What the hell is going on?" Naruto yelled, not wanting to believe his eyes. "Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing? Have you gone mad? Let Sasuke go!"

Kakashi shook his head and pressed the kunai closer to Sasuke's neck. "Sorry, Naruto. I can't do that. This person… is not Sasuke."

Naruto's blue eyes got incredibly wide. "Wha… what the hell are you saying?"

"No! Get off me!" Sasuke yelled, struggling in Kakashi's hold. This couldn't be happening! Not he was so close to tell his father the truth. "You're making a mistake."

"I realized that you have been impersonating Sasuke ever since we came back from the mission to the warehouse" Kakashi said to the horrorstrucked Sasuke. "I only kept quiet because I wanted to know what your objective was. Now I know that it was Naruto all along."

Naruto gaped, his eyes fixed on his sensei and the struggling raven. "Sensei… you mean…?"

"I'm sorry to say this, Naruto, but this isn't Sasuke. I'm still not sure of what he wants from you but he has been trying to deceive us all this time by trying to pretend he's Sasuke. Which, I might add, you should have done a better research. Your impersonation was rather pitiable."

"I… You don't understand!" Sasuke yelled in desperation. "I am…"

With an incredible speed, Naruto ran to Sasuke and punched in straight in the face, much to the raven's and even Kakashi's surprise. Sasuke looked at Naruto with his eyes wide and scared and his face throbbing with pain, but nothing could compare to the pain he felt when he saw the pure anger and resentment in Naruto's eyes.

"You damn bastard!" Naruto roared. "You've been lying to me all this time! How dare you pretend to be Sasuke? How dare pretend that you wanted to be my friend so you could use me?"

"No, Tou… Naruto, please listen! I wasn't pretending, I meant everything" Sasuke cried out, feeling tears behind his eyes as his Dad glared at him like he was the most despicable person in the world. "You have to hear me. I need to explain…"

"I don't have to hear anymore of your lies, YOU FAKE!" Naruto screamed in anger and hurt for that betrayal. "Give the real Sasuke back! What have you done to him? If you hurt him, I'll kill you!"

"I… I'm not a fake…" Sasuke whimpered. "Please, listen to me! I wasn't pretending to be your friend. I wanted you to like me…"

"As if I would ever be friends with someone like you" Naruto replied with plain disgust. "A fake like you will never be my friend! My friend is Uchiha Sasuke, the real one! Not some fucking impostor! Give him back!"

Sasuke opened his mouth to talk but he closed it again and lowered his face, completely crushed. It was over… everything was ruined.

"Let's go" Kakashi said to the ANBU and pushing the now defeated Sasuke towards the door. "I'm so sorry. I promise we'll get our Sasuke back."

Naruto just glared once more at the raven before they all disappeared from his house. Then, the blond punched the wooden table so hard that it broke in two, scattering the ramen cups all over the floor.

The ramen he had eaten with a fake Sasuke. He had actually believed that Sasuke really wanted to be his friend. He was so stupid!

As the anger dissipated, Naruto was finally able to sit on one of his chairs and buried his face in his hands while tears of sorrow and betrayal ran down his cheeks and his sobs echoed through the empty apartment.

* * *

><p><em><strong>12 years in the future<strong>_

Naruto was running as fast as he ever ran, though his despair was clouding his thoughts.

No matter how much he wanted to think straight, he could not forget that a ruthless bitch that he thought he had defeat was actually back and taken his son with her.

Fuka was sadistic and would anything to hurt Naruto. Take away Sasuke was the perfect way to cause him pain. If Sasuke was hurt and suffering… or even worse, Naruto would never live with himself. He'd rather die than let Sasuke suffer.

His baby. His little boy. She had stolen his little boy from him.

"I'll find you, Sasuke" Naruto said. "Please wait for me. I'm coming for you!"

Naruto lifted his head when a bright red beam of light came from the mountains. At the same time, the young man's heart was filled with dread.

He couldn't feel Fuka's chakra anymore, or Sasuke's.

Sasuke was gone.

* * *

><p><strong>First of all, the flow of time in the future is slower than in the past (like in the Lost Tower movie), that's why older Naruto is still tracking Sasuke.<strong>

**Also, I'm aware that I might have made past self Sasuke a bit too dark but I felt it was important to the plot.**

**Well, like always, I hope you like the chapter (sorry for the cliffy). **

**See you guys later!**


	13. Uzumaki Sasuke

**Olá!**

**I was a bit worried about this chapter and I hope I did good job with it. Also, Sasuke's transition to pretending to be cool and mature back to childish and insecure will be more evident here, but he's six and his scared out of his mind.**

**Warning for… perverted thoughts about Tsunade's bust… I think.**

**Once again, thanks for reading my story.**

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><p><strong>Uzumaki Sasuke<strong>

うずまきサスケ (_Uzumaki Sasuke_)

The ANBU had tied Sasuke's hands with a rope behind his back and around his ankles. Then, they had made him sit on a chair and tied a metal chain around his torso.

The interrogation squad had already arrived and Ibiki told Kakashi that they were ready to begin the interrogation.

They were staring at the boy through a window that allowed them to see the prisoner, while the latter was unable to see them or hear them.

"We have to wait for the Hokage to arrive" Kakashi told the scary man. "We need to find out if this person is controlling Sasuke's body from afar or possessed him. Either way, I don't want my student's body to be hurt."

Ibiki crossed his arms and stared at the immobilized prisoner with a glare. "So we must refrain from using our torture methods, huh? Too bad… But there are other ways to make him talk."

Kakashi nodded and stared once more at the impostor. The boy had remained silent ever since they left Naruto's house. Unlike what Kakashi had expected, he never tried to flee and allowed them to chain him without a groan. Maybe that also was a part of his plan or maybe he knew that it was useless to try to fight them or escape because he knew he didn't stand a chance.

Personally, Kakashi couldn't wait to see this mystery solved and finally know who this spy really was and what he wanted. However, there was something else that bothered him.

The boy didn't look angry, frustrated or even nervous. He looked absolutely heartbroken, staring at the floor with an empty gaze. Was this an act to throw them of?

"Kakashi?"

The white haired Jōnin turned around and faced the old Hokage, who had just entered the room. Both he and Ibiki bowed respectfully, while Hiruzen walked towards the glass and stared at the sad boy.

"Sandaime-sama, we were waiting for your arrival" Ibiki said. "Kakashi already told me about the prisoner's "_special_" situation. What kind of approach do you wish us to take?"

Hiruzen stared at the raven boy, deep in thought. This situation was indeed delicate since they were dealing with one of the last survivors of the Uchiha Clan. The old Hokage had been extra careful not to let any information slip, so neither Homura, Koharu and, above all, Danzo didn't know about this.

Sasuke was under his protection. That was the least he could promise Itachi and he wasn't going to let the Council or Root intervene again.

"First, we will talk to him" Hiruzen said, sensing the confusion on both Kakashi and Ibiki. "The three of us will be enough. Ibiki, tell the ANBU to patrol the surroundings. No one comes near this room without my permission. Also… call Inoichi. I feel we will need his mind reading abilities."

"Hai, Sandaime-sama!" Ibiki said, leaving the room to inform the other members of the interrogation squad.

The first thing Hiruzen saw when he entered the interrogation room was the pure look of sadness and loneliness on the raven boy's eyes. His gaze was so honest and childlike that, once again, caught the Hokage by surprise. It felt like they had caught one of the children from the Academy doing something wrong.

"Alright, it's time to end this charade" Kakashi said, moving towards the boy. "As you can see, there is no way to escape this place. Even if you manage to free yourself, you'll have to fight me, the commanding officer of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force and the Hokage, not to mention dozens of other skilled shinobi who are only an order away."

The boy lowered his head and started to tremble.

"However, the body you're currently using belongs to one of my students and I don't want to cause it any harm" the Copy ninja continued. "If I were you, I would release him immediately and start talking. There's no point in using Sasuke as a shield against us or as a disguise. There are many ways to cause you pain without hurting him so release him already."

"I… can't…" the boy whispered very softly, his eyes burning and his lips contracting so they wouldn't tremble.

Kakashi sighed and moved closer to the raven, his voice was very calm but it carried the definite sentiment of controlled anger. "We may not know the jutsu you used to take over Sasuke's body but, I can assure you, there are ways to force you to leave it. They are painful though, as you can imagine."

Sasuke's eyes widened in fear and a drop of sweat ran down his forehead. He didn't want to but he imagined a group of faceless and menacing shinobi forcing his soul out of his past self body and tried to imagine what would happen to him. Was he going die after that? Or was he going to become a ghost trapped in this past forever without being able to go back? All alone… he would be stuck here all alone. He would never see his father again.

"_**You're the most important person in the world to me. I would notice right away if you weren't there."**_

"_Daddy…" _the boy thought, though the memories of what had happened when Naruto found out he wasn't the Sasuke he knew pierced his heart like cruel blades.

Kakashi saw the terror in the raven's body language and he could have sworn that he heard a small whimper. However, the boy wasn't talking yet so he needed to keep threatening him until he finally cracked. If he didn't… then Ibiki would give it a try.

"So, I'm asking you again… who are you really? What have you done to Sasuke?" the white haired man asked.

_**"Give the real Sasuke back! What have you done to him? If you hurt him, I'll kill you!"**_

Sasuke closed his eyes, his aching heart beating on his hears.

_**"A fake like you will never be my friend! My friend is Uchiha Sasuke, the real one! Not some fucking impostor! Give him back!"**_

"Tell us. What did you do with the real Sasuke?" Kakashi insisted.

That was when Sasuke finally snapped.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING, STUPID BUTTHEAD!" the boy yelled to everyone's dismay. "I HATE YOU! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!"

Sasuke just couldn't do it anymore. He was tired of pretending to be older than he was or act like his past self. It didn't matter anymore. He just wanted to scream and cry like the child he truly was inside. He wanted to go home right now. He wanted one of the adults to help him go back, but they were all being mean and stupid and they were going to hurt him even if he hadn't done anything wrong.

"I didn't want to come here! It's not my fault" the raven boy went on, not caring one bit that all the adults looked taken aback by his outburst or the fact he was now crying freely and sobbing. His swollen eyes were fixed on Kakashi's flabbergasted face, glaring with both anger and distress. "And I hate you more! You messed everything up and now he hates me! I was gonna tell him … I just wanted… I wanted…"

At that point, Sasuke's words were swallowed by his sobs and cries. He was too angry and sad to care about anything. He had lost everything. His life, his body, his home and his father… everything was gone now.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was speechless for a change. He had foreseen hundreds of different scenarios, but none of them ended up like this. Seeing Sasuke cry and bawl was just… unsettling. The student he knew would never display his emotions like this and even though it was somebody else using the Uchiha's body, Kakashi didn't expect this kind of reaction either.

"_Also… what did he mean by "now he hates me"? Is he talking about Naruto? What sort of plan did he have in mind anyway?" _the Jōnin thought. He was hoping that capturing the imposter was going to give him some answers, not confuse him even more.

"Let me talk to him, Kakashi."

The Copy Ninja felt the Third Hokage's hand gently pushing him to the side and got near the crying pre-teen. Hiruzen took off his hat and kneeled in front of Sasuke, staring at his wet and red face. He waited until the boy opened his black eyes and stared back at him, tears continuously falling down his face.

"This is a very confusing situation for all us. We all want to know what happened to you and to Sasuke" the old Kage said softly, with a kind smile on his lips. "So… could you at least tell me your real age?"

Sasuke's eyes widened with surprise while both Kakashi and Ibiki stiffened at the Hokage's strange question.

"My… age?"

"You've been doing a good job pretending to be older than you really are, but you don't have to anymore" Hiruzen continued, completely relaxed and still smiling, trying to make him more at ease. "Could you please tell us how old you are?"

The raven looked at the other two adults and then at the old Hokage. Somehow, he felt safe around him and knew he could trust him because of all the good things his father had told him about the Sandaime. He really looked like a nice grandpa and, right now, all Sasuke wanted was some sort of family to lean on.

"I'm… I'm six years old" the boy said quietly, looking directly at the old man's kind face.

"What?" Ibiki exclaimed in disbelief. "Six? The spy is a tot? How can that be right?"

Sasuke stared at the scar faced man and glared at him. "I'm not a tot! I'm six years old and nine months. I'll be seven in three months! And stop saying that I'm a spy, 'cause I'm not! I'm from the future!"

Ibiki crossed his arms above his huge chest and glared back at Sasuke, who couldn't help but shrink back against the chair. Scarface, as the little boy had already nicknamed him in his mind, was freaking scary and his stare was almost like those he had seen when Gaara-san was about to battle or even his own Dad when he got really, really mad.

"If you want to act as if you are a dumb, over imaginative child, you can save your breath" Ibiki said. "Trying to fool us isn't going to work."

"I… I'm not pretending" the raven said warily and once again turned to the Hokage's kind face. "You have to believe me, please. I didn't mean to go to this body or go to the past. I don't even know how I came here… it wasn't my fault!"

Kakashi sighed under his mask. He didn't believe the boy's words (who would?), but he felt rather curious about what he was saying. What's more, they were going to read his mind later, so this was just giving him the opportunity to reveal himself.

"Why should we believe you?" Kakashi asked, earning another genuine Uchiha-glare from the boy. "You want us to believe that you're just a six year old boy from the future who, somehow, got transferred into Uchiha Sasuke's body out of the blue? You have to admit that is a very incredulous story. First of all, why Sasuke of all people? Why his body?"

"Because this _**is**_ my body" the boy revealed, realizing the grown-ups wide eyes. "I _**am**_ Sasuke!"

Hiruzen blinked several times, but didn't say a word. As for Kakashi and Ibiki, they didn't really sure on how to respond, except…

"That is preposterous!" Ibiki said, once again making Sasuke shudder with fear. "You just said that you're supposedly six. Now you you're claiming to be Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Look… you honestly can't expect us to buy that" Kakashi said, starting to lose his cool. This person was either toying with them or, if he truly believed that, he was completely crazy.

"I knew no one would believe me… that's why I didn't tell anyone" Sasuke said, lowering his dark and sad eyes. "I promised Tou-chan and Tsunade Baa-chan to keep it a secret, but I have to tell you so you won't hurt me."

"Tsunade… Baa-chan?" Hiruzen said, rather surprised. No one would dare to treat his student like that… well, maybe Naruto.

"How dare you call Tsunade-sama like that?" Ibiki said. "Show some respect for one of the Konoha's Sannin!"

"Why? What's wrong with calling her "Baa-chan"?" Sasuke asked petulantly. "She's used to it. I always called her that because she is really old but uses a jutsu to look younger and have huge boobs."

Ibiki, Kakashi and even the Sandaime blushed as they all remembered the big busted medic-nin that had left the village years ago. As he realized what they were thinking, Sasuke stared blankly at them.

"Perverts… the adults are all perverts" the boy said with a disapproving stare. Now he understood why his Dad had said the Sexy jutsu was useful, though he couldn't really understand it. What was so special about boobies?

"Anyway… how come you know Tsunade?" Hiruzen asked, glad he had been able to control his nosebleed.

"She's my doctor" Sasuke answered, trying to remain calm so they'll believe his story. "She's the best medic-nin in the world and she's been my doctor since Nii-san used that jutsu on me."

The Sandaime blinked. "Your Nii-san?"

"Itachi" Sasuke said, his black eyes as serious as a child's eyes could be. "Itachi Nii-san used a kinjutsu on me to turn me back into a baby."

"What?" Kakashi asked, walking towards the boy. "That is the most…"

Hiruzen raised his hand and Kakashi stopped talking. Though the Copy Ninja didn't believe a single word the raven was saying, the Hokage actually looked very serious. He wasn't taking the boy serious… was he?

"So, you're saying Itachi used a forbidden jutsu on you to make you younger?" the Third asked as Sasuke nodded. "Why would he do that?"

"Because I got really sick… that's what they told me" the boy answered sadly. "No one could help me and my brother did it to save me. That's why I'm a kid again, I'll have to grow up all over again and I don't remember anything before he did the jutsu. It's a jutsu from a small clan… they have… the symbol of a big bird, I think. The Shiroha… the shira…"

"The Shiraha Clan?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yeah! That's the one! They have a phoenix as a symbol! That's the bird, a phoenix. You know… the big fire bird."

Though the Third Hokage looked serious and calm on the exterior, his mind was racing and his heart skipped a beat. At first he had felt rather apprehensive about the boy's tale, but now he really pondered the possibility that he was telling the truth. Only a handful of people knew about the Shiraha Clan and even less were familiar with their rejuvenation techniques. Plus… the raven said Itachi had done it to save him, while, to the all world, Uchiha Itachi was nothing more than an ruthless criminal who had killed his own family to test his abilities.

Only four people, including Itachi himself, knew the real truth behind the massacre.

"Why would Itachi do something like that for you, Sasuke?" the Hokage asked, feeling more and more that this boy really was Sasuke.

The boy looked at the old man like he had said something ridiculous. "'Cause he's my big brother and he loved me."

"You're not angry at him? You don't think he's evil?" Hiruzen asked, forgetting the disbelief written all over Ibiki and Kakashi's faces.

"Of course not! He was the best big brother in the world and he was a big, big hero too. He died protecting the village."

"_Oh God" _the Sandaime thought, finally standing up. He believed him. Hiruzen realized he actually believed that child and the pieces of his strange story all came together. Itachi had mentioned that he should think of back of plans in case his original plan to have Sasuke kill him and preserve the Uchiha Clan's honor didn't go as he hoped. But the old Kage never thought Itachi would use a jutsu like this on his brother, literally erasing all the memories and pain he had gone through, but he could understand why.

"Sandaime-sama?" Kakashi asked, surprised by the solemn expression on the Hokage's face.

"Call Inoichi" Hiruzen said. "We're going to proceed."

"What… what are you gonna do to me?" the boy asked, once again scared. He thought the old man believed in him, but he looked so serious now.

Hiruzen turned to the boy and started to remove his chains and ropes. "Don't worry, Sasuke. It's going to be okay."

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><p>Sasuke was led to a big room, where more scary ninjas were waiting for him. He had been relieved when the Sandaime told Kakashi and Scarface that he didn't need the ropes anymore and he followed the Hokage obediently, while the other two walked behind him.<p>

He knew that, aside from the old Kage, no one believed him and still thought that he was a spy. But the Third was their boss, so they couldn't hurt Sasuke.

"Tell me, Sasuke…" the Third asked while they were walking towards the room. "You said you were turned into a baby by your brother, then… someone must have been taking care of you, right?"

The boy nodded, though thinking about his father was still painful. He could still feel his cheek throbbing where he had punched him, but it had been his rage and his words that had hurt Sasuke the most.

"You mentioned a father earlier" the Hokage continued with an enigmatic smile. "Were you adopted by someone after Itachi performed the kinjutsu?"

"Yeah" the raven replied, not hiding how sad he felt. "Tou-chan took me."

"Then he's someone who really cared about you."

"Yes."

"You must miss him a lot, huh? I bet you wanted to meet him here."

"Yes. I wanted to find him" the boy said quietly. "I wanted Tou-chan to know who I was, so we could… be a family again, like we used to."

Hiruzen nodded and his smiled widened. "He must be a very special person. I can see how much you love him."

Sasuke nodded again. He was expecting the Hokage to make more questions, but the old ninja remained silent until they got the room.

"Hokage-sama, I'm ready" a blond man with a huge pony-tail said, staring at Sasuke with a confused gaze.

"Very well, Inoichi. Will start right away" Hiruzen said. "If possible, once you find the memories we seek, I would like to see them as well."

"Sure, Hokage-sama" Inoichi answered and waved at his comrades to get the round machine ready for the small pre-teen's body. He still couldn't believe that Uchiha Sasuke had been possessed; Ino would be crushed if she knew about this. Also, why wasn't the imposter in cuffs?

Meanwhile, Sasuke looked at the strange machine and pulled the Hokage's robes. "What is that? Do I have to go inside that thing?"

"I'm afraid so, Sasuke" Hiruzen answered, placing a comforting hand on his shoulders. "Don't worry. We're not going to harm you. We'll just take a look at your memories."

"My memories? How do you do that?"

"Inoichi's clan has a special ability that allows him to read someone else's mind. He's going to see your memories so we'll all know that you're telling us the truth."

The boy glanced again at the unknown ninja and the strange machine. He was scared but he knew that he didn't have a choice. If he wanted them to believe him, he needed to be brave. He was sure that was what his father would have done.

"Alright" Sasuke said, walking towards the round machine that would keep him immobilized.

When the contraption closed, only his head was outside and he couldn't get out. This only made him even more nervous than before.

"Let us begin" the blond man said, before touching Sasuke's head with his hand. The raven's eyes widened as he felt an unfamiliar presence reach out inside his mind. It felt like invisible tentacles on his brain.

Inoichi sighed as he finally found the boys brain but his expression hardened as he realized that there were two brains inside his mind instead of one. That proved that the imposter wasn't controlling Sasuke from afar, his mind was inside this body and it would be very hard to dispel it.

The blond Yamanaka quickly realized which brain belonged to Uchiha Sasuke. Fortunately, the real owner of the body was just sleeping peacefully and no harm had been done to his mind. So, Inoichi turned towards the active brain which belonged to the mysterious usurper. He pulled out a scroll made from his memories and started reading from the most recent ones.

At first, Inoichi saw Konoha and the boy's memories with Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura, then he saw an explosion of red light and the memories became blurred, like he had been hit on the head and barely conscious. He saw a very ugly old lady performing hand seals in front of a statue and only caught glimpses of what she was saying, while the boy was lying on the ground.

Inoichi decided to go further back and saw a beautiful bedroom in an unknown region. The imposter got out of the big bed and Inoichi saw the unmistakable small feet and hands of a young child.

_"So here you are!" _an adult voice said, and the boy turned around.

Inoichi gasped and all the others stared wide eyed at him. "No… No way… it can't be…"

"What's wrong?" Ibiki asked.

Inoichi saw a bit more of the memory. He saw a blond young man throw his coat to a chair before sitting next to the child, looking very tall in the boy's perspective.

_"I was wondering why you left"_ the blond continued. _"You didn't even eat the desert… and it's chocolate ice-cream."_

_"I'm not hungry"_ the boy answered, without looking at him. _"Shouldn't you go back? People will start looking for you."_

_"I think I've never talked with so many people before, I'm a bit tired. Besides, it's no fun when you're not there."_

"Minato… Oh my God, it's Minato" Inoichi said, not able to hide his shock.

"What?" Kakashi exclaimed. "You're seeing the Yondaime?"

Hiruzen frowned and moved towards the stunned man. "Let me see, Inoichi."

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><p>Sasuke was re-watching his memories like he was living them again. He could feel the cold floor of the palace on his feet, the wind on his face and, most important, the warm that came from his Dad's body, just like he was really there.<p>

All Sasuke wanted to do was jump to his arms and cry in his familiar embrace, but his body didn't move the way he wanted. He felt himself pull his knees to his chin and sulk like a brat.

_"Sasuke? Is something wrong?"_

_"No… I'm just tired"_ the raven mumbled. _"Also, it doesn't matter if I'm not there. I'm not important or a hero… you're the one who matters. People won't even notice if I'm not there."_

_"Sasuke… don't say that. Of course, you're important. You're the most important person in the world to me. I would notice right away if you weren't there."_

_"But it's just you!"_ the boy grumbled, looking at the blond man angrily. _"Apart from you, no one would care if I wasn't there because I'm not a famous, strong shinobi. No one cares about a stupid dumb kid who wants to be a ninja."_

Just like Sasuke, Inoichi and Hiruzen watched the blond man move closer to the boy. He did really look like Minato, even his voice was very similar, but Hiruzen knew it wasn't his sucessor and all he had to do was to notice the whisker marks on the man's cheeks to confirme what he already suspected ever since he heard Sasuke talk.

_"It's not all about power, Sasuke. Being strong and famous is not the same thing as being acknowledged. When I was younger, I was really weak… and dumb."_

_"Yeah, right…" _Sasuke mumbled sarcastically_._

_"I'm serious. The thing is, I never quit" _the blond continued_. "I kept trying until…"_

_"Tou-chan, stop it! I know you're just saying that so I'll feel better, but I'm not!" _Sasuke interrupted._ "You were always strong, everybody says so! Nobody even notices me when you're around. I'm like a shadow! I'm not powerful or amazing like you… I'm just your weak __**adopted son!**__" _Sasuke looked at his hands_. "My life sucks!"_

Staring behind the memory, Sasuke finally noticed the sadness on Naruto's eyes and how he had lowered his head.

_"Is your life really that awful, Sasuke? Do you wish I wasn't here at all?"_ the blond whispered.

Sasuke wanted to scream, to tell him that he needed him, he loved him so much. His life was great, he was just too jealous to realize it back then, but he knew the truth now. Instead, he saw his body move away from his father and refuse to look at him.

_"I'm sorry you feel that way…"_

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><p>Back in the room, Kakashi was still waiting for the Hokage's confirmation that Inoichi had seen Minato-sensei in the raven's mind. Only years of training helped him mask the anxiety he felt. Then, he finally saw Hiruzen open his eyes.<p>

"Hokage-sama…?" Kakashi asked immediately.

"It's not Minato" the old man answered solemnly.

"Then… who did you see?"

Hiruzen turned around and stared at Sasuke's face twitching from that painful memory. "Sasuke was telling us the truth. He really is from the future. I saw his adopted father… I recognized him as an adult."

"Huh?" Kakashi exclaimed. "What do you mean, Sandaime-sama?"

Hiruzen faced Kakashi's surprised face and chuckled. "I could never forget his face, Kakashi. Who would have guessed? That foolish troublemaker is going to grow into a mature and level-headed shinobi."

Kakashi's uncovered eye widened like a saucer. "You… you don't mean…"

"Yes, that is exactly what I mean" the Hokage looked once more at Sasuke with a kind and happy smile on his face. "This boy is Naruto's son."

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><p>As Inoichi continued digging through Sasuke's memories at a much faster pace, the boy relived many moments of his childhood that he had mostly forgotten. When he reached the memories of his toddlerhood and babyhood, Sasuke was in tears. He saw his chubby baby body playing and babbling with his toys, right next to his Daddy. He saw himself whimper as Naruto was called by Fukasaku and left the room and felt joy and relief when he finally came back and picked him up.<p>

After a while, most of his memories were of being cuddled on Daddy's arms, while he rubbed his back gently and whispered soft words to calm the crying baby. Knowing the harsh reality that was waiting Sasuke, only made him sadder. He didn't want to leave these happy memories and be all alone again.

The last memory was of waking up, lying in a futon while gentle sun rays came through an old window. Sasuke eyes were drawn to the sleeping teenaged Naruto, who was lying right next to him, looking as big as a giant compared to Sasuke's small infant body.

Sasuke saw and felt his weakly coordinated hand reach out towards his father's cheek and touch it. It felt warm and smooth, like it always was.

"_Da… Dada"_ the baby boy muttered.

Naruto moved slightly and slowly opened his sleepy eyes. When he stared at Sasuke, his lips curved into a tender smile.

"_Shhh… go back to sleep, Sasuke. It's still early"_ the blond teen said, pulling the infant closer to his body.

Sasuke saw his Daddy's hand in front of him and he immediately grasped it, wondering how his two small hands were so little compared to his parent's much bigger one, but it was a warm and soft hand. Daddy's hands were always warm and soft.

Naruto smiled as he stared at the little baby playing with his fingers before resting his head against Sasuke's thin raven hair.

"_Is this how having a family feels like, Sasuke?"_ Naruto asked quietly, while the baby grabbed his fingers with his little strength.

Sasuke looked up and saw his Daddy's pretty blue eyes stare at him.

"_Dada"_ the baby said, though the word he really wanted to say was "Papa", but it was too hard for him to say it yet.

Naruto chuckled. _"I take that as a yes."_

Then everything became dark and Sasuke plunged into unconsciousness.

"_Papa… please be my Papa again. Please…"_

* * *

><p>An hour after the mind reading was over; Kakashi was staring at the sleeping raven boy with a blank expression.<p>

Inoichi had confirmed what the Sandaime already told him. There was no doubt; this boy inside Sasuke's body really was Naruto's child.

They still had to confirm the other unbelievable part of the story. They still had no proof aside from Sasuke's confession, that he was the de-aged Uchiha Sasuke or that it had been Itachi to do it to save his little brother's life. However, Kakashi could feel that the Third Hokage already believed the boy but wasn't going to confessed it or explain himself.

Either way, the one thing they were sure was that this Sasuke's memories were genuine and not some fake illusions to trick them. Inoichi had double checked the boy's mind and guaranteed that, as well as that the "real" Uchiha Sasuke was fine, sleeping.

Inoichi had told them amazing things that he had seen on the little boy's mind. He had been particularly shocked to recognize is own daughter as a young woman, while he still saw as his little girl. Same thing for his best friends' sons, Shikamaru and Choji.

The Third had been surprised that, of all his former students, Tsunade was the one who became Hokage. However, he was visibly happy about the choice and only regretted that he probably wouldn't be alive to congratulate her.

As for Kakashi, well… he was still trying to process that one of his students was a father. The fact that it had been Naruto, his sensei's son, only made him feel more awkward. But also, he felt glad that his impish student was going to become such a good man in the future and have his own family.

He still couldn't think that Sasuke had become his son. For now, he could only focus that the boy in front of him was Naruto's son, which explained so many things that he had done lately and why he was so eager to be with Naruto.

The kid wanted to be with his father and, inadvertently, Kakashi had caused him a lot of pain by exposing him the way he did.

Still, Kakashi knew Sasuke couldn't tell Naruto the truth, no matter how much he wanted to be with him. No one could know about this, for both Sasuke's sake and Naruto's. Knowing the future was a big risk for a six year old boy. All they could do was try to find a way to send him back to the future.

"Kakashi" the Sandaime said, entering the room. "How is he?"

"Still sleeping" the Copy Ninja answered. "He was emotionally exhausted from the mind reading."

"Hm. It must have been painful for him. Be away from his father and yet re-live his life all the way until his infancy, any child would be brought to tears" the old man said, looking at the boy sleeping in a fetal position.

"I still… can't believe it" Kakashi confessed. "I can believe he's Naruto's son."

"He inherited many of his mannerisms. It's like a mix between Sasuke and Naruto" the Hokage said with a small laugh. "But I could tell how much he misses his father. He loves him very much. It's a kind of love that can't be faked Kakashi… a child's unconditional love for his parent."

Kakashi nodded, trying to suppress long and buried feelings towards Sakumo in his heart. He didn't have time for that, nor the disposition.

"What will you do now, Kakashi?" Hiruzen asked.

"I'll look after the boy from now on" he answered. After all, he felt responsible for the child. He was his student's son and he was going to protect him.

"I'm counting on you and I suggest you get ready for a very angry brat. Make that two, Naruto isn't going to let this go either."

Kakashi sighed but nodded.

Hiruzen left the room and starting walking towards the exit of the ANBU building where they had decided to hide Uzumaki Sasuke. He wasn't sure that what he was going to do was a good idea, but he had to try. It wasn't hard for him to secretly spread small information that Sasuke's body had been taken over by someone and the village couldn't release him, he just hoped that it wouldn't take too long to reach the right ears.

* * *

><p><strong>Hmm... "right ears". What could that mean? ^_^ <strong>

**Okay, that was it. The truth is finally out. I just hope I did a good job with all the characters involved and plot. What do you think? Please tell me, so I can improve my writing.**

**Also, what are your thoughts on Uzumaki Sasuke as a character? **

**I hope you liked it. Thanks for reading!**


	14. The Second Storm

**Hello everyone! Kai writing this from Tavira, Algarve! There are so many foreign tourists! Is anyone of you here? ^_^ **

**I had to make an important decision about this story's plot and well… here it is. I did it because I decided to write an alternate story to his one, after I finish this. Therefore, I don't want to use the same plot devices and ideas. **

**Like always, I hope you like this! Oh! And thanks to all of you for the wonderful response to my other Naruto fanfic "Savior", you guys are the best!**

* * *

><p><strong>The Second Storm<strong>

第二嵐 (_Dai ni arashi_)

_Future_

Naruto continued running towards the red light that came from the mountains, his Kyuubi chakra mode made him look like a living flame jumping from tree to tree. He felt the presence of several warriors behind him, most likely sent by the Queen to assist him, but his mind was too shocked to slow down or let them catch him.

Sasuke's chakra had completely disappeared. No matter how much the blond young man tried to sense it, he couldn't find a single trace. Even when someone was very weak or unconscious, he'd be able to sense their chakra. When he couldn't, that person was always dead.

"_He can't be dead!"_ Naruto repeated in his mind over and over again. _"Sasuke isn't dead! There's no way he'd die like this, I won't allow it! I won't let my son die!"_

The red light was very close now; Naruto could feel an enormous power coming from it. The light had destroyed half the mountain and everything seemed to disintegrate when it touched it.

As he walked closer and felt the heat coming from it, all Naruto could think was of his last conversation with his son. Sasuke looked so angry and unhappy… Naruto knew that he felt insignificant and weak when compared to himself. During the party, everybody was commenting Naruto's deeds and greatness while Sasuke was mostly ignored or regarded as an interesting fact that Konoha's savior had adopted a child at such young age. Naruto had been so happy with the people's compliments, that he only noticed that his son was gone when he turned around to talk to him.

He should have handled the situation differently. Maybe, if he was older, more experienced or had actual parents to emulate, he would be able to make Sasuke understand what real strength was about and comfort him. But he hadn't and Sasuke saw Fuka's attack as an opportunity to prove himself worthy.

Naruto's greatest fear was now coming into life. Despite all his power, he had been powerless to save his little boy. If he had lost him, he knew his heart would die with him.

There was nothing in this world that could even compare to his love for his son. He wasn't going to stay put in safety and do nothing. He was going after his child, even if he died doing it.

* * *

><p><em>Past<em>

Unlike every other morning, Naruto woke up very early. He hadn't been able to fall sleep after Kakashi and the ANBU had taken Sasuke with them.

A fake Sasuke, not his teammate, not his rival, not the person he admired the most and had tried to make him acknowledge Naruto. Whoever that guy was, he had pretended to be Sasuke and Naruto, like the idiot he was, had completely bought it.

The blond pre-teen cursed himself for being so naïve and willing to believe that Uchiha Sasuke would want to be his friend and accept Naruto as his rival. He should have known that the real Sasuke wouldn't be so nice to him all of a sudden. Maybe the reason Naruto had been tricked so easily was because he had wished they could be friends so much, that only made him feel angrier, betrayed and sadder.

How could he do this? Why had that guy lied to him using Sasuke of all people? It just wasn't fair.

"_I bet he was laughing at me the whole freaking time!" _he thought bitterly, feeling his eyes burn and grinding his teeth.

Naruto got up from his bed with a jump and dressed quickly. He felt too angry to eat breakfast and burst out of his apartment with his blue eyes bright with rage. He was going to find that guy and force him out of Sasuke's body, then he was gonna find his real ugly face and turn it into a pulp.

The furious boy was near the river when he saw a familiar pink hair and a red dress at the distance. Blinking, Naruto looked closer and realized that Sakura was at their meeting spot in the bridge talking to someone. One quick look at the person's hair quickly confirmed that it was Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, jumping and running towards his team.

Sakura turned around and stared at Naruto with a scared expression on her face, her hands trembling and her green eyes wide.

"Naruto…" she whispered as the blond got closer. "Kakashi-sensei just told me. Is it true? Is Sasuke-kun being controlled by someone?"

"Calm down, Sakura" Kakashi said looking at Naruto's burning eyes. "I've told you… We have everything under control."

Naruto stood beside his teammate and stared at Kakashi in the eyes. "So that means you got rid of the bastard who was using his body, right?"

Kakashi thought about the boy who had cried so desperately while they tried to see his memories. Naruto didn't know his real identity; all he knew was that someone was taking over his teammate's body against his will. The Jōnin wondered sadly what would Naruto think and do if he found out that it was his own son.

"Not yet, Naruto" Kakashi said, most to his students dismay.

"What? Then what are you waiting for? Force him to leave!" Naruto yelled in exasperation.

"It's more complicated than that" Kakashi answered carefully. "I can't tell you all the details, but we're doing everything we can to help Sasuke."

Sakura paled even more. She knew that the Yamanaka Clan was capable of stopping a body's possession but, if even they were having trouble with it…

"Sensei… please… can you promise Sasuke-kun is going to come back to us?" she pleaded with tears in her worried eyes.

Kakashi tried to smile under his mask. "Don't worry. Sasuke will be back to his brooding self in no time. You just need to wait a bit longer until we try to figure out how it happened, so we can't reverse it."

"It doesn't matter how it happened!" Naruto cried out. "I don't care who the hell that guy is or what he wants! Just get Sasuke back!"

Though is mind was filled with fear and anger, Naruto could have sworn that Kakashi's eyes had stared at him with sadness during his outburst. However, their sensei didn't say a thing about it and his face remained aloof.

"Like I said, we're doing everything we can" Kakashi said. "Now, as you can understand, this is a very delicate situation. Not only because Sasuke is one of the last Uchiha alive, but also the village's enemies can take this situation to their advantage. As your sensei, I'm not asking, I'm ordering you not to tell anyone about this. It's the Hokage's order. Are we understood?"

Both Sakura and Naruto nodded, though the blond was clearly infuriated.

"One more thing… _**do not interfere**_. I mean it, Naruto" Kakashi said sternly, staring at Naruto's outraged expression.

"What? You're expecting me to just wait with my arms crossed while Sasuke's body is being controlled by some thug? I can't do that, Kakashi-sensei! You have to let me help! I need to do something! He was trying to trick _**me**_ using Sasuke's body. It's _**my**_ fault!"

Kakashi frowned. "It's no one's fault. Naruto… let the Leaf's Higher Ups do their job; you can't help no matter how much you want to. Not only that, you can endanger Sasuke's life if you're reckless. It's an _**order**_, Naruto. Let us deal with it!"

Kakashi didn't need to use his Sharingan to sense Naruto's anger and dismay. The boy's fist were clenched and trembling, his lips pale and his eyes burning with fervor. Naruto was worried sick about his teammate and rival, but also enraged about the person who had taken over his body. The white haired Jōnin knew that, if he had the chance, Naruto would beat up the "usurper" for his deceit.

That was also one of the reasons they wouldn't let the boy meet up with Naruto. The blond wasn't ready for this kind of revelation. Hell! If it had been Kakashi, he wouldn't be either. It was too overwhelming for someone who didn't have a family meet his future child, and Naruto was just a kid.

Besides, even if the blond accepted Sasuke, it would only put the two of them in danger. Enemies from Konoha could end up knowing about the time travel and use both Sasuke and Naruto to get information. Also, there was the old woman that they saw in Sasuke's memories, the person responsible for this whole mess.

Someone who wanted Naruto dead at all costs.

* * *

><p>When Sasuke opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the metal bars on the window. Immediately, the boy jumped from his bed and grabbed the bars, as if to make sure they were real and he wasn't dreaming that he had been sent to jail. The moment his pale hands felt the cold metal, the raven boy knew he was wide awake and living his greatest nightmare ever since he travelled to the past.<p>

"They locked me up!" he whimpered, still holding the bars and shaking them in a vain attempt to free himself.

Sasuke looked around and saw a huge metal door but, like he expected, it was locked. With his heart pounding in his chest, the young raven walked towards the bed and sat on it, hugging his knees and sobbing quietly when his eyes filled with tears.

Fine, he was a crybaby! But he didn't care anymore. He thought he had convinced the older ninja that he was telling the truth, but they had locked him up in a dungeon and probably thrown away the key. Now, he was going to be here forever or worse… Maybe they were just waiting to pull him out of his past self's body and kill him.

After a few metallic sounds, the door was slowly unlocked. Sasuke raised his tearful eyes and instantly glared when Kakashi entered the room.

"What are _**you**_ doing here?" the boy cried out, quickly wiping his tears from his eyes and cheeks.

"Good-morning to you too" Kakashi said peacefully. "Did you sleep well?"

Sasuke's glare only became bigger and angrier. Was this guy taking the piss out of him?

"I asked you what you are doing here. Are you stupid?" the boy repeated, sounded as childish as he really was.

Kakashi ignored the glaring, the frowning and childish pouting, he was quite used to them since he became Team 7 Jōnin guide. Though the raven moved away from him, he sat in a chair near his bed and placed a tray with the boy's breakfast on his bedside table.

"Well Sasuke… I'm afraid I'm going to look after you from now on" Kakashi said, trying not to smile when Sasuke's eyes widened with shock and dislike.

"What? I don't want you to look after me! I can look after myself" he cried with displeasure. "Where's the Hokage? I wanna talk to him, not you!"

"Sandaime-sama is too busy with his tasks as a Kage, he can't come running just because you asked" the young Jōnin explained patiently to the sulking child, though he had to admit he was enjoying it. "Being Kage means that he has to look after the whole village, not just one person. I thought your father would have taught you that, since his dream is to become one."

Sasuke blinked and stared at Kakashi's masked face carefully. "You… you believe me now? You know I'm telling the truth?"

"It's still hard to believe, I'll admit that, but the Third and the Interrogation Squad saw your memories and they believe you're telling the truth. Therefore, I believe you too."

Sasuke let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. Suddenly he felt calm, like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The grown ninjas knew he was telling the truth! That meant they weren't going to hurt him.

Kakashi picked up the tray and gave it to the raven who, now that he knew they believed him, realized that he was also starving.

"Thanks for the food!" the boy exclaimed before devouring his breakfast. He had eaten half of it, when he remembered that there was another person in the room and slightly blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I forgot to ask… do want some?"

Kakashi smiled under his mask, he was actually starting to like this kid. "No thanks, Sasuke. Eat as much as you want and, if you want more, you can always ask."

"Maybe I could eat ramen for lunch!"

"Ramen? I guess I should have expected that. There's no doubt Naruto raised you."

Sasuke finished drinking his milk and placed the mug on the tray slowly, his onyx eyes sad and longing.

"Did you tell my Dad who I am?" the raven asked meekly.

"No, I'm sorry" the white haired man said. He had already decided to be completely honest with the boy; lies would only hurt him more.

"But now you guys can tell him the truth, right?" Sasuke asked, optimistically. "You can tell him that I wasn't pretending to be his friend and that I'm his son from the future! Then I can go and wait with him until I can go back to the future!"

Kakashi felt a pang in his heart as he heard the child talk so hopefully about how things would work out. The kid was so naïve but also so honest that it physically hurt the Jōnin to shatter his fantasy.

"Sasuke… I'm afraid we can't let Naruto know who you are."

The raven's eyes widened with shock. "What? Why not?"

"People aren't always the same, we all change as we grow" Kakashi tried to explain. "You probably have noticed by now that the Naruto in this time is different from your father."

"That's just because he's still a kid here" Sasuke argued. "He's still my Tou-chan!"

"I know, but he's just twelve now. He can't be the father you remember yet because he still needs to grow. He can't look after you."

Sasuke lowered his head and his eyes became bright with unshed tears. "It's because he hates me. If you told him that he was going to be my Dad he would be mad, right? 'Cause he really hates me… he likes my old self better. He doesn't care about me at all."

Out of nowhere, Kakashi remembered thinking exactly that. Despite being a genius, a prodigy and loving his father with all his heart even after the whole village started treating him like trash; Sakumo had been too depressed to see him. His father had chosen death instead of staying alive with his son, he didn't think of Kakashi's feelings at all.

"_He doesn't care about me at all"_ young Kakashi had though as pain, sorrow and anger twisted his heart and hardened it into stone. _"I wasn't enough to keep him alive."_

At the time, Kakashi didn't show his real feelings to anyone, not even Minato-sensei, who tried to help him in every way he could. Kakashi buried his sorrow and his anger towards his father and decided to live on while avoiding the mistake that had cost Sakumo's reputation: never break the ninja rules. Unfortunately, it took another tragedy for Kakashi to realize how wrong he was.

"Sasuke…" Kakashi whispered softly and placed a warm hand on the boy's shoulder. "Sasuke… look at me. How old is Naruto? I mean… your father?"

The boy sniffed and looked at Kakashi.

"I'm almost seven and he's twenty three… almost twenty four. His birthday is just two months after mine."

Kakashi blinked. Naruto was just twenty four years old? So that meant that he had been around seventeen when Sasuke was regressed. Both boys were still so young! It also meant that Sasuke's _illness_ was going to happen five years from now… He thought they had more time. Then again, shinobi lives were almost always cut short, only a few survived until old age. That was a price every ninja needed to accept as they put their lives on the line to complete their mission or to protect their village.

Kakashi wasn't an emotional person, he was aware of the cruelty of the ninja world. His father and Minato-sensei had died young, as did Rin and Obito, that's why he shouldn't feel so surprised that Sasuke's life was going to change so radically so soon. However, like most humans, he wanted to believe his students, who he started to realize that he loved dearly, were going to live long and happy lives.

"I see. So… how is future Naruto like?" the sensei asked with a hint of a smile under his mask. "Is he Hokage yet?"

Sasuke cleaned his tears and faced Kakashi. "No, not yet."

"I bet he still boasts to everyone that he's going to be the next Hokage."

This made the raven's lips quiver a little. "Yeah, he keeps doing that, especially when Tsunade Baa-chan and Gaara-san come to visit us."

"Gaara-san?" Kakashi asked, this time, really surprised. He had heard horrible rumors from Sunagakure about a young ninja called Gaara of the Sand, known for being completely heartless, ruthless and bloodthirsty. Everyone knew he was the Jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Beast.

"He's the Kazekage and he's really strong" Sasuke said with a small, nostalgic smile. "He's Tou-chan's friend. He keeps saying that he's not going to stay behind and that he is gonna be a Kage too."

Kakashi had no idea how someone like Gaara could end up being friends with Naruto, let alone the Kazekage. According to what he heard, he was hated as much as he was feared in Suna. How could he have been elected Kazekage? Did Naruto have something to do with it? Would he change Gaara like he had changed Zabuza?

"Tou-chan is silly and he doesn't look very strong, but he's the hero of Konoha and the Fourth Shinobi War. He's the strongest ninja in the world" Sasuke went on with a huge smile on his face and bursting with pride. "Everybody says that he's amazing, but he doesn't brag about it. He's very nice and funny. He trains with me every day and then we play together. We're always together! He's my…" Sasuke's smile faded slightly and he looked down. "He's my best friend."

The white haired man was a little shocked that there was going to be another Shinobi war, but he decided to talk about more comfortable subjects with the little boy. Instead, he concentrated on the happy life Naruto was going to live. His unpredictable student, the boy everybody hated unfairly and thought he was just a failure, was going to become one of the most powerful ninja in the world and get the recognition and admiration he had desired all his life. He also seemed like a loving and caring father to Sasuke, someone who had made his gloomy and arrogant student into a happy, cheerful and honest child.

In the end, Kakashi felt happy for both of them. It was sad that Sasuke had to lose his memories and part of his identity, but he had received the fatherly love he lacked and given Naruto the family he never had. It was a good future and Kakashi knew now that he needed to protect it and prevent it from changing.

"It seems that you admire Naruto a lot" the sensei said. "I'm glad you ended up so happy, Sasuke. I also wanted to apologize for the way I arrested you when you were in Naruto's house, I didn't mean to cause you any pain."

The raven nodded, still sad and hurt by Naruto's angry reaction. He understood though, he wasn't stupid. Daddy wanted his old self to be his friend and Sasuke had tricked him unintentionally. After talking to his past self, the young raven understood why his life was so lonely. In the past, he had been smug, cynical and mean to everyone. He had made his father sad many times, but Naruto still wanted to be his friend and fiercely wanted to "save" his teammate from being possessed. Tou-chan was still the nicest person in the world, even without his powers.

"Sasuke? Are you alright?" Kakashi asked, watching the boy in deep thought.

"I thought he wouldn't understand me…" Sasuke mumbled, his eyes covered by his fringe.

"Huh? Who? Naruto?"

"Yes… Daddy always looks awesome and strong. People from all over the world know his name and want to be with him. He's like a star that everybody loves and I… I felt mad at him for it" the boy continued, his fingers playing with the sheet and his eyes tearing up. "He's very powerful and I felt like a wimp beside him. Everyone likes to compare us… they asked who I was and why I didn't look like my Papa. They spoke real quiet but I could hear them."

Kakashi remained silent and let the boy continue.

"I felt even angrier. I wanted to be strong and popular like Tou-chan, but I'm still very weak and I was mad at him for that. He tried to talk to me and he told me that he used to be really weak too and that people laughed at him and stuff, but I didn't believe him. I thought he was just trying to make me feel better… I thought he couldn't understand me, but he did. I know now that he understood… he was lonely and people were mean to him all the time. They called him a loser and monster" Sasuke finally looked at Kakashi, a tear falling down his cheek. "Why are people so mean to him? It's not fair! He didn't do anything and they're so nasty. I don't want them to say those things and hurt my Dad. Why are they doing this?"

Kakashi nodded sadly. He guessed adult Naruto never told Sasuke about his past or the Kyuubi, thus he didn't have the right to reveal that secret. "You're right. It's not fair and Naruto suffers a lot. I can assure you, Sasuke… Naruto didn't do anything to deserve the villagers' behavior, but he's determined to prove them wrong and, from what I heard from you, he made it. He must be so happy. I'm proud of him."

Sasuke nodded, smiling softly with tears in his eyes. Now that he thought about it, felt really happy and proud of his Dad too. He was gonna show all those assholes that made fun of him just how cool he was. But still…

"What happened to grandpa Minato and grandma Kushina?" Sasuke asked, noticing the shock on Kakashi's black eye. "Tou-chan told me all about them, but I didn't know they had died when he was little. What happened?"

"Naruto told you, huh? Then I guess you also know that his father was the Yondaime" Kakashi said, while Sasuke nodded in confirmation. "The Yondaime and Kushina-san died on the day Naruto was born. They died to save Konoha."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Then… Dad was alone all his life? He never had a mommy or a daddy to look after him?"

Kakashi nodded but Sasuke wasn't convinced. Children weren't meant to be alone, they need parents!

"Did anyone adopt him?" the boy insisted. It was only logical, if his father had been an orphan baby, he needed to be adopted by someone like Sasuke had been.

"No, Sasuke. He wasn't adopted."

"Why? Why not? There was nothing wrong with him!" the child exclaimed, outraged and pained for his Dad's lonely and sad life. The idea that his cheerful and caring Daddy had been all alone since he was a baby was unthinkable. "Why didn't anyone want him? He's perfect! A little silly and dumb… but he's perfect!"

"It just didn't happen, Sasuke" Kakashi said. "There are a lot of children in this world who lose their parents and are never adopted for many reasons. Naruto was one of them… It's just the way it is."

Sasuke placed a hand on his chest. It felt tight and it hurt. He couldn't imagine his life without his Daddy; it was too painful… like a wound on his heart that never heals. He didn't want Naruto to be alone, sad and scorned every day. They were a family! They should be together like they always were!

Right now, Sasuke just wanted to go to his past self and beat him up for every time he was mean to Tou-chan and make him be his friend, but he knew he couldn't and that was the saddest part.

"Naruto must be so happy in the future" Kakashi said, surprising Sasuke.

"Huh? Why?"

"He finally got his family, didn't he? He got a son. He got _**you**_. I bet he likes to be with you all the time."

Sasuke nodded and remembered all those times his father wanted to be with him instead of going out with the other adults. It made him miss him even more than before.

"Do you know how to take me back home?" the raven asked anxiously.

"Not yet" the Jōnin said, his heart aching as he saw the boy's eyes grew wider with fear and desperation. "We're still trying to figure out how you came here, that way we may find a way to send you back."

"How are you gonna do that?"

"We need to know more about that old woman, the one who kidnapped you" Kakashi noticed that Sasuke's eyes grew even wider. "From what we saw in your memories, she was the one who made you travel through time. We also think that she came to the past too, you were just caught by her jutsu."

"That ugly hag?" Sasuke asked, remembering her attack. "Why would she want to go to the past?"

"In your memories, she attacked and taunted Naruto and, from the pieces of dialogue we saw after she hit your head, she appeared to be talking about killing Naruto and get her revenge. She must have been an enemy he defeated. Do you know anything about it?"

"No. I never saw her! I don't even know her name" Sasuke said, his heart beating faster. "So… you're saying that she came to the past to kill Tou-chan? She's still out there waiting to kill him?"

"Yes, that's what we think" Kakashi said bluntly, there was no need no sugar it.

"Then Tou-chan is in danger!" the raven cried out. "You've got do something! You have to find her! She's going to kill him! I can help! I know her ugly face and…!"

"Sasuke! I appreciate the sentiment and I understand you want to protect your father, but there's nothing you can do right now" Kakashi placed a warm had on the boys shoulder. "I promise. I won't let her hurt Naruto."

Sasuke lips quivered and he felt tears falling down his face again. This was too much! It felt like a nightmare. All he wanted was to wake up and go back to his real life. He wanted things to go back to way they were. He wanted to go home. He wanted his Dad to be safe. He wanted to see him again…

"_Daddy…"_ Sasuke thought. _"I want my Daddy!"_

Kakashi watched helplessly as the pre-teen pushed his knees to his chest and lowered his head, his shoulders trembling as he cried tears of fear and sorrow.

* * *

><p><em>Future<em>

Naruto saw the read beam of light right in front of his eyes. Behind him, he heard the worried voices of the other warriors, asking him to go back, that it was too dangerous, that no one knew what that light was and that he could die. However, Naruto didn't listen to their pleas.

The way to Sasuke was through that red light. He could felt it in his chest.

If it meant to go where Sasuke was, he would go to hell. He had said it to Sai before and he still felt the same way: if someone took Sasuke from him, he didn't care who he would have to fight.

"_Even if I'm torn to shreds… I will take Sasuke back!_" the blond thought, staring at the cursed red light. _"Wait for me, Sasuke. Daddy is coming!"_

Without closing his eyes, Naruto jumped towards the red beam and was swallowed by its light.

* * *

><p><em>Past<em>

As he walked down the streets of the village, young Naruto was fuming. How could Kakashi-sensei forbid him from helping Sasuke getting rid of that imposter in his body? Was he supposed to wait peacefully and went on with his life like nothing had happened? Bullshit!

"Naruto?" a familiar voice asked. When the blond turned around, he saw Iruka staring at him with a worried gaze. "Is everything alright?"

"No! It's all wrong! Sasuke was…" Naruto yelled and bit his tongue as he remembered Kakashi's orders. Damn it! He couldn't even tell anyone about it!

"Did something happen between you and Sasuke again?" Iruka asked, walking towards the boy he cared for like a younger brother.

"No…" Naruto said, angrily looking at the ground.

"Naruto… you know you can always talk to me if you want" the young teacher said. "You can tell me what's bugging you."

Naruto clenched his fists. He wanted to tell Iruka-sensei everything, but he knew he couldn't because of Kakashi's damn orders.

"Kuso! I can't just wait like this" the blond mumbled.

"What?"

"I don't care what Kakashi-sensei says" Naruto cried out before starting to run. "I'm going to find Sasuke!"

"Wha…? Naruto wait!" Iruka yelled, running after the blond boy. "Goddamnit, Naruto! I said wait!"

Naruto was about to jump to a roof when he saw a flash of red on the sky. To his and all the villagers dismay, the blue sky had suddenly become clouded with some sort of red colored clouds.

Iruka reached Naruto and also stared at the strange clouds with a confused expression on his face. Around them, everybody muttered and pointed towards the sky, wondering what happened.

"What's with those clouds?" the blond asked.

"I don't know" Iruka answered. "But I feel a huge amount of chakra coming from them."

"Chakra?" Naruto asked, staring deep into the strange phenomenon.

A red lightning appeared on the sky, followed by a huge thunder. People started to talk louder and their faces turned from confusion to worry.

"What is going on? Naruto?" Iruka asked. However, Naruto didn't say a thing.

The moment that red lightning appeared, Naruto's eyes widened and became blurred. To Iruka's dismay, the blond's body started to glow red.

"Naruto!"

Only a second later, the red light disappeared and Naruto's unconscious body fell in his former teacher's arms. Shortly, the red clouds disappeared, leaving a beautiful blue sky.

"Naruto! Naruto, wake up!" Iruka cried out, shaking the blond's limp body. "Naruto!"

* * *

><p>"Naruto!"<p>

Someone was calling him. Naruto vaguely recognized the voice that kept repeating his name repeatedly, but his head felt so heavy and tired that he wanted to ignore it.

"Naruto! Open your eyes, Naruto! What happened to you?"

Little by little, Naruto started to become aware of where he was. He felt his legs and feet laying on the ground, while someone held his upper body in his lap. Then, that person started to hit his face several times, making the blond squirm and slowly open his eyes.

"Ah! You regained consciousness" Iruka's blurry image said. "Are you alright, Naruto?"

"Sensei?" the blond answered softly, watching his Academy teacher in awe as his vision became clearer. What happened? Why was Iruka-sensei with him?

Confused, Naruto looked around and saw that several people were watching him with interest, whispering and talking to each other.

"Are you okay? Maybe I should take you the hospital" Iruka said, still worried about the blond's confused expression. "You fainted right after that strange red lightning."

Red lightning. The red beam of light. He had jumped into the red light to follow Sasuke!

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, jumping from Iruka's arms and standing up, though his body felt different somehow. Also… was he imagining things, or did his voice sound higher?

"Naruto, you just fainted! You can bicker with Sasuke another time" Iruka scolded, although he felt relieved that Naruto was well enough to want a fight with Sasuke.

"Huh? Bicker? What are you…?" the blond place a hand on his mouth and then moved it to his throat. "What the…?" he coughed two times. "What is…?" he coughed again. "What the fuck is wrong my voice?"

Naruto looked at Iruka, who had stood up, and gaped. Since when was Iruka that tall?

"There's nothing wrong with your voice, Naruto" the sensei said, frowning because of the boy's swearing. "Seriously, what's wrong with you?"

With wide eyes, Naruto realized that all the adults that were staring at him were now a lot taller. Had he gone to a land of giants or something? What in the world was this place?

In the corner of his eye, Naruto saw something bright and orange. He turned around and his eyes widened even more when he saw who was reflecting on the mirror of a store. He saw himself, or more precisely, a twelve year old version of him, staring back with his blue eyes huge with shock and disbelief, his jaw dropped.

"What? What is this?" the blond said, walking towards the mirror and watching his pre-teen self do the same.

He was just the way he remembered: short, the blue forehead protector, the orange jumpsuit with blue on the upper shoulders area as well as around the waist and the blue sandals. He touched his face and saw the boy he had been to the same; he felt his skin smooth under his fingers, like a child's. Naruto then lowered both his hands and stared at them in wonder, moving his fingers and realizing how small they were, just like the rest of his body.

"I'm… a kid?" he said, still shocked to hear that high pitched voice come out of his mouth when he had gotten used to his lower, adult voice that took forever to change. "Why am I a kid again? What's going on?"

"Naruto?" Iruka asked, moving towards his perplexed student. To his dismay, the boy glared at him with a battle stance.

"Who are you really? What did you do?" Naruto cried out.

"Huh? Naruto! It's me, Iruka! Don't you remember?"

Naruto wasn't used to feel this small, his body and chakra felt weaker. Also, it was so strange to have Iruka-sensei towering over him again.

"I got it! This is a Genjutsu!" the blond said, making the release hand seal. "Release!"

Nothing. Naruto opened his eyes and Iruka was still staring at him with confused and worried eyes, like he had lost his mind.

"What in the world are you doing you idiot?" Iruka finally yelled. "This isn't a genjutsu!"

"In a genjutsu, an illusion would say the same thing!" Naruto yelled back, making the release seal again and again with the same results. "Fuck! Why isn't this working? Motherfuc…!"

Before Naruto could end his swearing, Iruka punched him in the head. "Watch your mouth, damnit!"

"Ouch! Damn! It hurt!" the blond yelled with tears behind his eyes.

Before Naruto said or did anything weirder, Iruka grabbed him by his abdomen and threw him to his shoulder.

"Hey! What are you doing? Put me down!" the boy cried out, trying to break free.

"Not until we get to the hospital" the older shinobi said, walking down the street despite the looks they were getting from the villagers. "There's something wrong with you, Naruto. You need to be seen by a doctor."

"I don't need a hospital! Let me go!" the blond yelled, kicking and waving his arms. Tired of this strange illusion, Naruto was ready to use stronger jutsu and run from this imposter, when his blue eyes saw the Hokage Mountain in front of him.

He finally noticed that he was in Konoha, the old Konoha, before Pain's had destroyed it. More importantly, he saw the four heads carved on the mountain.

He was in the past. Reality or not, Uzumaki Naruto was now in the past.

"Oh crap!"

* * *

><p><strong>I know I could have made past Naruto realize that Sasuke was his future son, but that would repeat the idea I'm saving for the alternate side-story which will be the previously expected "past Sasuke meets Uzumaki Sasuke" kind of fic. Like I said, only when I finish this one.<strong>

**Besides, having future Naruto on his past body can be fun to write too. What do you think? **

**Well, I hope you liked it and I can't wait to read your reviews. Many thanks for all of them as well for the favs and alerts. **

**See ya later!**


	15. The Simplest Thing

**Hello! I know it's been a while, but real life tends to get in the way and I've been working on my other fics.**

**This chapter is short, which is cruel because I haven't updated in a while. Still, I hope you like it.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>The Simplest Thing<strong>

一番簡単なこと _(Ichiban kantan'na koto)_

"STOP TOUCHING ME!" Naruto yelled at the nurses who were trying to take his blood sample. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GENJUTSU? WAKE ME UP ALREADY!"

"Naruto! Let the nurses do their job!" Iruka yelled back at the blond. "You're not well, damnit!"

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his former sensei. "I told you before. I'm not falling for this illusion. So you better break the jutsu."

"How many times do I have to tell you this isn't a genjutsu, you idiot? If you keep up with this, I'll have to call the Sandaime!"

"Yeah, right! I would love to see you pull that one of" Naruto said sarcastically. "What's next? You're going to bring Asuma-sensei back from the grave too?"

"Back from the…? _They're not dead!_" Iruka cried out. "What in the world are you talking about? Have you gone completely mad, Naruto?"

Naruto frowned and turned his back to him. It was bad enough to be in a genjutsu, but he hated being treated like a little brat again. He was in his twenties for crying out loud! He was an adult, an experienced shinobi and a father of a child. He deserved a little more respect.

Seeing that they were going nowhere, one of the nurses walked towards Naruto and asked him if he she could check his pulse and then they would let him leave. The blond looked at her with suspicion, but gulped the moment she swiftly injected a tranquilizer in his thigh. Cursing himself for this rookie mistake, Naruto struggled in vain against the wave of dizziness before falling unconscious in his hospital bed.

* * *

><p>Next thing he knew, he was in a sewer. Water felt cold against his toes and trousers were getting wet. Upon further inspection, Naruto realized that he was in his adult body again and looked at the dark, humid corridor head of him.<p>

"I see… This is where Kurama is sealed" the blond man said to himself, walking down the sewer. No genjutsu could enter his subconscious and talking to his Bijuu would finally make Naruto understand what in the world he had gotten himself into. He didn't have time to waste on illusions about his childhood when his son was missing.

The moment the blond reached the gates to Kurama's cage, his blue eyes widened in confusion. It was the cage the fox had destroyed before Naruto had faced him, not the _torii_ like cage he had built. Even more surprising, the seal on the lock was still intact.

"How…? How is this possible?" the blond muttered.

"**Who is there?"** a low, menacing voice called from within the dark cage.

Naruto looked in awe as Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox, appeared in front of him. The beast looked bloodcurdling and unfriendly, just like he had been during the sixteen years he had been looked up in Naruto's subconscious. His red eyes glared at the blond Jinchuuriki, his giant teeth gritting and ready to slice him into shreds.

"Kurama?" Naruto asked carefully.

"**Who are you?"** the tailed beast yelled. **"How dare you call me by that name?"**

"It's your name, isn't it?" Naruto answered as a matter of fact. "People should be treated by their names."

The fox would have frowned if he had any eyebrows and stared deeply at the blond man. For an instant he thought of the cursed Yondaime, but the scent was wrong. The man smelled just like…

"**Naruto?"** Kurama asked. **"Is that you?"**

"Of course it's me! Don't tell me you're under a genjutsu too?"

"**That's not possible"** the fox said, still suspicious. **"Why do you look older?"**

Naruto frowned. "What do you mean? I grew up! You saw me!"

"**Last time I saw you, you were being your obnoxious twelve year old self. Is this the result of that red lightning?"**

Naruto blinked. "What red lightning?"

"**The one who put you unconscious"** Kurama explained. **"After you woke up, I felt that your presence was different."**

"Different?"

"**If you really are Naruto, then that could explain why that brat is over there."**

Naruto turned around and gaped. A twelve year old Naruto was leaning to the wall, apparently sleeping. The older blond walked slowly towards is younger self and shook him, but the boy remained comatose.

"What the hell is going on?" Naruto whispered.

"**You are a future Naruto, right?"** the fox mumbled. **"Apparently you've been transported into your past self. Since two people can control the same body at the same time, the brat went to sleep."**

"So… you're saying he is me?" Naruto asked, still in awe. "Back there, it wasn't… a genjutsu? It was all real? How did this happen?"

"**Hmph! Don't expect me to answer that"** Kurama grunted.

Naruto remembered the red light coming from the mountain and jumping into it. At the time, he couldn't care less about what would happen to him, all he thought was going to were his son was.

"Sasuke! Sasuke was in that red light too!" the blond cried out, facing Kurama once more with his big, worried eyes. "Is he here? Did Sasuke come back to the past like I did?"

"**How should I know that? I couldn't care less about the Uchiha brat"** Kurama said, curling and ready to go back to sleep.

Knowing that he wasn't going to get any more info out of the fox, Naruto decided that it was time to go.

"You know what? I can't wait when you become nicer" the blond mumbled.

"**Don't mock me, Naruto"** the Kyuubi groaned, closing his eyes while Naruto turned around to leave. **"By the way…"**

"What ?" the blond man asked.

"**Who told you my name?"**

Naruto had to smile at this. "Son Goku told me."

The giant fox grunted even louder. **"Bastard!"**

* * *

><p>By the time Naruto finally opened his eyes, he saw the sunset on his window. Grunting, the blond sat in his bed and stared at his younger body. Had he really been this short? This skinny? No wonder no one took him seriously. Why did he have to be a late bloomer?<p>

Silently, the blond jumped from the bed and dressed his old orange jumpsuit. He could hear voices outside the door and heard his name several times. They were talking about him and wondering why he had acted so strange.

Naruto could try to tell them the truth, but that would take too much time and they wouldn't even believe him. Surely hitting his head, being under a jutsu or going insane were more logical answers to his behavior than being his older self stuck in his younger body.

He had to find Sasuke! If he was in the past, Sasuke could have ended up in his past self body too. When he found his son, well… he still didn't know what to do, but at least they would be together.

After putting on his sandals, Naruto moved to the door and listened carefully. Shortly after, he recognized Iruka and Kakashi's voices talking to an unknown man, possibly a doctor.

"His exams don't show any anomalies" a medic-nin said. "His chakra is stable and doesn't have any injury on his head. All in all, he appears to be just fine."

"But he was acting so strange" Iruka said. "He kept asking if he was under a genjutsu. It just happened out of the blue."

"Iruka? Did you say that he fainted after the red lightning?" Kakashi asked evenly.

"Yes. Yes, he did. He started acting weird after he woke up."

"Hmm…"

Naruto realized that Kakashi's voice sounded too composed, like he was expecting Iruka's answers. His white-haired sensei had always been able to stay calm in the most dangerous situations, but he should be asking more questions if one of his students acted strangely.

"Don't worry about him, Iruka" Kakashi said. "I'm sure Naruto is going to be just fine. All he needs is a little time to pull himself together."

"What do you mean?"

The blond boy's eyes widened. Could it be that Kakashi already knew he wasn't quite himself? How was that possible? Naruto didn't say anything. Unless…

"_What if Sasuke arrived earlier and in the same way?"_ Naruto thought with rising panic. He tried to imagine his little boy stuck in his pre-teen body, all alone in a past he didn't remember or understand. _"He could have gotten in to trouble! If he behaved strangely, other ninjas could think he was an imposter and arrest him. Perhaps even torture him, if they hadn't already!"_

Not wanting to waste another second, Naruto created a clone to stay in his bed, opened the window slowly and silently and jumped to the nearest roof. He tried to go into Sage Mode, but this body was too weak to sustain natural energy yet. Kyuubi Mode was also out of the question for obvious reasons.

Mentally cursing his weak body, the blond could only wait until Kakashi left the hospital and followed him. Fortunately, his hiding skills had improved a lot in the previous years and he had gotten used to hide his huge chakra.

As he followed his mentor, Naruto realized that Konoha looked untouched and, apparently, the Sandaime was still alive. That meant the Sunagakure and Otogakure attack hadn't happened yet, which was good. Naruto wouldn't want Sasuke to go through the Chuunin exams and meet Orochimaru. Thank God for small miracles! Still, if Sasuke wasn't in his past self body… well, he needed to check it anyway.

If Kakashi went home, Naruto would need to look for Sasuke through other means but, for now, his sensei appeared to be going outside the village and into the surrounding woods. Increasingly more anxious, Naruto continued his pursuit, though keeping a bigger distance from the older shinobi since he had lost the crowds noise to cover his own.

Kakashi stopped at a small cabin in the middle of the forest. After talking to an ANBU, he entered the house and stayed there for almost thirty minutes. By the time he left, Naruto had already counted three ANBU guards and felt Sasuke's chakra coming from inside the house.

"_He's in there"_ the adult inside the child's body thought. _"He's really in there. Oh please, let it be him. Please, let him be alright!"_

He didn't want to fight his sensei, because he was sure he was going to lose with his current body but the ANBU were another story.

Twenty minutes after Kakashi left and the guards started to relax, the blond war hero jumped from his tree and knocked the first one unconscious.

* * *

><p>After his short conversation with Kakashi, Sasuke felt uneasy.<p>

Kakashi didn't say much really. He asked Sasuke how he was doing and how he felt. When he boy asked about his father, Kakashi said Naruto was in the hospital but refused to explain why no matter how many times Sasuke asked. All he said was that Naruto was fine, but was still under observation and that he would tell Sasuke more in the morning.

"What an asshole" the boy groaned when the Jōnin left his room. If his Dad was in the hospital, he had every right to know why.

He wanted to leave this stupid cabin and visit Naruto, but he knew he wouldn't be welcome as long as his father thought he had stolen his best friend's body. He just couldn't go through that all over again. He didn't want to see his father reflected in that boy's face or hear his hurtful words about how he wasn't the person he wanted him to be. Not again…

Sasuke picked up one of the ramen cups that Kakashi had brought him and started eating, but the noodles got stuck in his throat. He hated being alone like this, in a dark cabin, eating in silence.

"_There's nothing you can do, so stop acting like a baby"_ he told himself, feeling the familiar sting on his eyes. _"You have to wait until the older ninja find a way to bring you home. You can't do anything."_

Just as he was about to give up eating, the raven heard a muffled cry outside his door. Dropping the ramen cup, the boy hurried to the window and saw one of the ANBU guards lying on the ground. Seconds later, he heard more voices and the sound of bodies slamming against the wall.

"Assassins…" Sasuke said, grabbing his fork, which was the only thing he could use as a weapon. Both the door and the window were sealed, so he couldn't escape.

Trembling with fear, Sasuke backed down against the wall and waited. He couldn't help but gulp when he heard someone picking with the lock of his door, trying to open it.

That was it. He was going to die here, all alone and way from his home and his family. Still, he wasn't going down without a fight. He was the son of a hero and, adopted or not, he was going to die fighting bravely just like his father had during the war.

The raven grabbed the fork with his trembling hand and was ready to jump at the assailant the moment he opened the door. However, when he did, Sasuke's onyx eyes widened immensely and his fork fell on the ground.

Uzumaki Naruto stood at the door frame, panting but looking deadlier than ever. His blue eyes were cold and fixed on Sasuke's shocked face.

"_Was he the one who knocked out the ANBU?"_ Sasuke thought. _"How did he find me? Why did he come here?"_

Naruto entered the room and walked towards Sasuke. The blond looked uncharacteristically serious and his gaze never left Sasuke's, except when his foot hit the half eaten cup of ramen that the raven dropped.

"Na-Naruto?" Sasuke asked, carefully. The blond stared at him again, with a strange expression on his face before starting to walk again.

Sasuke felt a drop of sweat rolling down his forehead the moment the blond pre-teen reached him. He had never seen Naruto looking so solemn and dangerous, his eyes burning with emotion.

"Naruto, I…"

The slap echoed through the room. Sasuke was so shocked by it that it took him seconds before noticing the throbbing pain on his cheek.

"Naru…" the raven mumbled but was silenced by the blond's angry and tearful eyes.

"I told you to go with the Queen! I told you to go somewhere safe!" Naruto yelled, grabbing Sasuke by the shoulders. "Why couldn't you do as I say? Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Sasuke's mouth dropped open, his words dying in his mouth.

"What were you thinking? I told you it was dangerous. I couldn't move, all I could do was watch as that old hag took you away!" the blond cried out, tears rolling down his face. "I stopped feeling your chakra! _**I thought you were dead, Sasuke!**_**"**

Naruto pulled Sasuke into a strong embrace, shaking and crying against the raven's blue shirt. Sasuke felt the lump on his throat grow bigger and warm tears on his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Naruto, his body shaking with each sob.

"You're grounded!" Naruto yelled both angry and relieved, rubbing his son's back tenderly before yelling some more. "You're grounded until you're ninety, you hear me! I'm never letting you out of my sight! I'm gonna watch you like a hawk!"

Sasuke nodded. He didn't care that he was grounded, he didn't care that Naruto was angry at him. All he cared about was that he wasn't alone anymore. His father had come looking for him. He was really here.

"Papa…" the boy whimpered between sobs. "I'm sorry, Papa."

They should look ridiculous holding each other like that, crying their eyes out, but it wasn't. It was just what it was, a worried father hugging his son. It was the simplest thing in the world.

* * *

><p><strong>I didn't want to make Naruto search for Sasuke for a lot of chapters, but I do hope I haven't rushed the story.<strong>

**I'm back to college, internships and papers to deliver, so yeah I'm busy as hell. Please be patient!**

**See ya!**


	16. Return

**Hi! Sorry for taking so long to update but real life and the heartbreaking ending of another comic I was reading got in the way. **

**So, after screaming a Darth Varder NOOOOOOO several times and leaving an angry text on that author's tumblr page (Damn you, Kieron Gillen. Damn you!), I finally pulled myself together and focused on my beloved fics.**

**This isn't very long, but I hope you guys enjoy it.**

**Warning: some spoilers.**

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><p><strong>Return <strong>

戻る_(__Modoru)_

"Tou-chan… Slow down!" Sasuke said.

However, Naruto didn't answer him and continued walking hurriedly through the busy streets of Konoha. The stars were shining in the clear sky above them and the moon was big and full.

After drying up their tears, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's wrist and pulled him out the cabin and away from the unconscious ANBU before they got caught.

"We'll talk at my home" Naruto had said in the forest. "We need to leave this place before we get caught."

After that, the blond didn't say another word and kept pushing Sasuke. The raven knew his father was still pretty mad at him and that he had the right to be, still he hated the silent treatment, especially after they had finally found each other.

"Daddy…" Sasuke groaned, while Naruto pulled him through the crowd.

"Keep quiet" Naruto said without turning. "I told you, we'll talk at home."

Naruto's icy tone made Sasuke gulp and lower his head sadly. "I'm sorry…"

Sighing, the blond slid his hand by the raven's wrist and grabbed his hand. It was a small gesture, but Sasuke couldn't help but smile a little.

* * *

><p>"I'm really sorry, Ino" Chouji apologized to his fuming female teammate. "I didn't mean to bump into you!"<p>

"_**Bump**_**?** You threw me into the damn lake!" the blonde girl screamed. "Why can't you look to what you're attacking? Look at my clothes! They're all wet! And my hair is a mess!"

Chouji lowered his head. "Sorry…"

"C'mon, Ino. Chouji didn't do it on purpose" Asuma said, watching his new students walk ahead of him.

"That's right" Shikamaru said. "Besides, you can be mad all you want but that won't change anything. You'll still be wet."

Ino turned to the young Nara with lightning in her eyes. "Whose side are you on? What have I done to deserve a team of obnoxious boys?"

"Stop complaining, Ino" Shikamaru said, looking rather bored. "We're already teamed up and, no matter how much you want it, you're not on Sasuke's team."

The blonde hissed. She couldn't understand why Sakura of all people, was the one who got to be on Sasuke's team. Sure, Naruto was also there and he was a major pain in the ass, but being with Sasuke every day was every girl's dream. Just thinking that Sakura could be hitting blatantly on the handsome raven made Ino wish to strangle someone. Right now, either Shikamaru or Chouji looked like very good choices.

"Oh! Speak of the devil" Shikamaru said, looking straight ahead.

The members of Team 10 followed his gaze and Ino's cranky expression quickly changed into a smile.

"Sasuke-kun!" she squealed happily.

Sasuke was walking a few meters away from them. Ino was ready to rush to his side and try to strike a conversation when she noticed that he wasn't alone. There was someone else with him, someone who was wearing bright orange.

"Is that Naruto?" Chouji asked, reaching for his fries.

"That's strange. Sasuke and Naruto are talking a walk?" Shikamaru remarked. "They can't stand each other."

"Maybe Kakashi gave them work to do" Asuma said. "Those two had a huge fight two days ago. I guess Kakashi wants to make them a better team."

"It wasn't Sasuke-kun's fault. Naruto keeps annoying him" Ino stated matter-of-factly. "Poor Sasuke-kun… stuck with that jerk. I'll go there and make him company!"

"What? Ino!" her teammates cried out, but the blonde had already left.

Ino started running and pulling people out of her way until she reached the raven. "Hi, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke almost jumped when she grabbed his arm and stared at her completely startled. Naruto turned around too and his blue eyes widened, though he didn't as surprised as his teammate.

"Ino? What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"I saw you guys, so I decided to come and greet Sasuke-kun" Ino said oblivious to Sasuke's discomfort.

"Ino? Are you Ino?" the raven asked slowly, staring attentively at her face.

"Of course I am, Sasuke-kun" the Yamanaka answered, trying not to feel upset that Sasuke didn't seem to know her name. "You look tired? Have you arrived from a mission? Have you eaten yet?"

"Huh…"

"If you haven't, I know the nicest restaurant right across this street. You should join me!"

Sasuke look at Ino and Naruto, not knowing what to do or what to say. Fortunately, Naruto walked to his classmate.

"Sorry, Ino. We're busy right now" the blond boy said.

"I didn't ask _**you**_, Naruto" Ino whispered with a frown. "In case you didn't notice, I invited Sasuke-kun."

The raven's onyx eyes widened at her words and his expression became stern.

"He's right, Ino. We're busy" Sasuke said, pulling his arm away. "We'll see you around."

"But…" the girl whimpered, her smile dying in her lips.

Sasuke turned around and started walking. Naruto looked at bit surprised at the raven before saying goodbye to Ino and following him.

Overcoming her disappointment, Ino decided to give it another try. She wasn't trying hard enough. She needed to do better, be sexier. Every girl in the village knew that Uchiha Sasuke was a difficult guy to please, which made him even more appealing.

However, as the feisty blonde was about to shout at her childhood crush, she stopped dead on her feet and her jaw dropped.

When Naruto reached Sasuke, the latter voluntarily held his hand.

* * *

><p>As he watched Naruto opening the apartment's door, Sasuke wanted to ask him about Ino. In the future, she was his father's friend, a bit scary and gross when she kissed him, but she was still a family friend. In the past, she was mean to his Tou-chan, like everybody else.<p>

He wished he could talk to him about it. He wished he wouldn't be so mad.

When Naruto entered his old home, he seemed to be lost in thoughts until he walked through the kitchen and saw the broken table and the huge mess.

"What the hell?" the blond cried out.

Sasuke didn't remember the ANBU crushing the table when they took him, so maybe Naruto had done it.

"Dad…"

The blond started picking up the broken glass and pieces of wood with his back to Sasuke. "Go take a bath. I'll lend you some of my clothes."

Sasuke finally noticed his dirty clothes, which he had worn ever since he went to the Hokage's Office to find his grandpa. Naruto could be very dense, but he always noticed when Sasuke needed something.

Sasuke obeyed silently and went to the bathroom. Like the apartment, it was small and old, with cracks on almost every tile, but it was surprisingly clean. On the corner, there was a white towel and a laundry basket almost identical to the one they had at home. Even the soap and the shampoo were the same brand as well.

When the boy tossed his dirty clothes to the basket and entered the bathtub, he could feel like he was home again, which made him smile for the first time in days. After bathing, Sasuke wrapped himself with the towel and went to Naruto's bedroom.

His first thought was that he had entered the wrong room until he saw the bed and the clothes on top of it. The bedroom had been completely cleaned, most likely by Naruto's clones. The question was why he had done it? Sasuke's own bedroom was always a mess until his Dad nagged him to clean it. He wouldn't mind if Naruto's bedroom wasn't tidy, it actually made them alike.

But maybe his father didn't want him to know that he used to be a complete slob.

Carefully, Sasuke put on the black shirt with a red fire symbol and a pair of dark-green pants. As soon as he was dressed there was a knock on the door.

"Can I come in?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah" the raven answered, staring meekly at his very young parent.

"Your hair is still wet" Naruto said, picking up the towel.

Sasuke sat in bed and let the blond try to dry his black hair before combing it with his hands. It was during this awkward silence that Naruto finally decided to talk.

"How long have you been here? In the past?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto's blue eyes, which looked a lot older than they did yesterday. There was no doubt that there an adult in this kid's body, but it was still weird seeing his father so young and small.

"About a week... more or less."

"_A week?_" Naruto cried out. "How is that possible? I went right after you!"

"I dunno, Tou-chan. I remember that old hag dragging me to that temple and then I saw a red light" Sasuke explained, lowering his eyes. "When I woke up, I was here. I woke up in my old house… my past self's house."

Naruto stared at his son for a while, his expression filled with concern. "Did something happen?"

The raven shook his head and stared at his hands, his cheeks reddening. "It was… pretty awesome at first. I mean, this body was a lot stronger and everyone here seemed to like me. I wasn't the second best or just _"Naruto's kid"_ anymore. I am actually popular here."

"I see…"Naruto tried not to feel hurt about those words. Of course Sasuke would be thrilled about being a strong and admired shinobi instead of being continuously shadowed by his adoptive parent. "I guess Kakashi figured out you were acting different from your… usual self."

"Yes… I think he noticed right away, but he waited to see what I would do. I thought I was fooling everyone, but I wasn't" Sasuke went on. "They caught me yesterday. Here, in your house."

Naruto stiffened. "Here? Why did they catch you here? How did you know where I lived?"

"Because I was looking for you" the boy cried out, tears rolling down his cheeks as he finally stared back at Naruto. "Tou-san and Kaa-san were dead and Nii-san was away. I hated being in that house all alone."

Naruto's eyes became even wider. "Did anyone tell you … about Itachi?"

"No, just that he was away. I couldn't even meet him" the boy answered, not noticing Naruto's relief. "I wanted to find grandpa and grandma too."

"So you tried to find other members of your family…" Naruto deduced sadly, imagining how upset Sasuke most have felt when he realized his clan was gone.

"Yes, I wanted to find grandpa first so I went to the Hokage's Office but he wasn't there" Sasuke explained. "The Sandaime told me he had died, and then I went looking for you and grandma."

Naruto blinked, confused. "Wait… what?"

"I thought grandpa Minato could help me go back home, but when they told me he was dead I thought I could tell grandma Kushina instead and stay with you."

Naruto finally understood. Sasuke had been looking for his parents and his younger self, which was understandable because his father's face was carved on the mountain. Sasuke was a bright kid.

"I guess you found me, huh?" the blond said with a small smile.

If possible, Sasuke became redder. "You… sort of dared me into a fight. I didn't know it was you, Tou-chan. I just wasn't thinking… I thought you would be a baby or a little kid, not my age or my teammate."

Naruto nodded. "Did you beat me up?"

"I… kind of."

Naruto sighed and sat in his bed beside Sasuke. All his life, he wished he was someone admirable, someone he could be proud of. He knew that his experience as a total loser gave him the willpower to become the man he was now and understand other people's pain and loneliness.

He wasn't embarrassed of his past, but he still felt that twinge in his heart every time he remembered how it was like being laughed at, mocked, rejected and hated. That sad, little boy who cried alone on the swings would always exist inside of him, but he wasn't sure he wanted his son to see that part of him. Telling him about his mistakes as a young ninja was completely different from seeing him first hand.

"Are you… ashamed of me?" the blond boy asked.

"What?"

"At this age, I was a loudmouth and I didn't know anything… I guess I really was a loser."

"No! Don't say that!" Sasuke cried out.

"It's alright, Sasuke" Naruto said with the saddest smile. "I just hope I didn't give you a bad time. If I said something hurtful while you were here, I'm sorry."

Naruto was about to continue when he felt two strong arms pulling him into an embrace. It was weird because he could see Uchiha Sasuke hugging him, but he smelled and behaved like his little boy.

"I wanted to tell you that you are awesome and that we were going to be a family" Sasuke mumbled. "When I saw those people being so mean to you, I just wanted to crush them into a pulp! But I was the worse, because you wanted to be my friend and all did was make you sad."

"I… It wasn't like that" Naruto mumbled. "I wasn't exactly easy to deal with and you… you had your own problems."

Sasuke buried his face on Naruto's shoulder. "I don't like my past self."

"I like him. I like you" the blond answered, rubbing Sasuke's back. "You two are the same person, but you just… changed."

Sasuke's hug became tighter. "I don't wanna be him."

"That's like wishing I had always been admired as a hero" the blond answered. "But you know what? If I hadn't been weak and unpopular once, I wouldn't be the person I turned into."

The raven blinked and stared back at Naruto's face. "I still don't like him."

"I forgot how little you really are. You'll understand one day, when you're older."

"You know? You sound really weird talking like a Dad when you're smaller than me" the raven pouted.

"Fine" Naruto got up and closed all the windows on his apartment, putting sealing tags on each one and the front door. Now, his apartment could only be opened from the inside and he wouldn't have to worry about ANBU ninja breaking into his house. Thank God he had trained his sealing skills over the past six years.

He supposed Kakashi was going to find out about Sasuke's escape soon, if he hadn't already. However, the blond wanted to avoid any confrontations with his sensei while he was stuck in his young body.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, his legs crossed over the bed.

"I don't want people to spy on us or break into the house" Naruto explained as he made the hand seals. After a small explosion of white smoke, Naruto emerged but he had the appearance of his adult self.

"Tou-chan? How did you turn back?" the raven asked, jumping from the bed and walking towards him in awe.

"I didn't. It's a Transformation jutsu" the now adult Naruto explained. "Even when I was a kid, I had a huge chakra reserve. I can stay like this for hours."

"I wish I could do it" the raven whispered, still staring at his father.

"Baa-chan uses a Jutsu that makes her look young all the time, but I don't know how to use it."

Sasuke nodded. We would like to turn back into his real self, but having Daddy as a grown up made him feel a lot safer.

"Were you hurt?" Naruto asked, placing both his hands on the raven's shoulders. "Did anyone hurt you when they took you?"

"No. No one hurt me. A man who looks like Ino read my mind and the Third told everyone I was telling the truth."

Sitting on the bed again, Sasuke told his father everything, including how he won the race against Sakura to his conversation with Kakashi in the hidden hut before Naruto broke him out. The blond didn't interrupt, even when Sasuke told him about how his younger self had reacted when he found out he wasn't the Sasuke he knew, though his eye's reflected his feelings of guilt perfectly.

By the time Sasuke finished his tale, he was yawning.

"You should go to sleep, it's almost midnight" Naruto said, tucking the boy in his bed.

"Can you stay here?"

"Sure."

Sasuke nodded grabbed his father's hand. "What are we going to do, Daddy? How can we go home?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure there's a way" the Naruto answered with a smile. "Tomorrow we'll start looking together. Something will come up."

Sasuke knew his Dad was trying to make him feel better and maybe he was just as scared as Sasuke was. Still, the raven smiled and decided to believe in his words.

* * *

><p>Hours after both Sasuke and Naruto had fallen asleep, Kakashi had reported to the Hokage about Sasuke's escape and Ino tossed around in her bed trying to forget her crush holding another boy's hand, a shadow slipped inside Konoha.<p>

Despite his calm expression, Itachi was worried. It took him hours to convince Kisame that he wished to attend a private matter and explain to Pain that he wanted to see his brother. Their leader could hate Konohagakure with every fiber of his body, but he understood Itachi's reasons for keeping his plans about his little brother a secret. As long as Itachi didn't betray Akatsuki, Pain gave him permission to do as he pleased.

Tobi, or Madara, wanted to know what Itachi was going to do, so the young Uchiha told him the truth, hoping he wouldn't follow him and meddle. There had been rumors about a young Uchiha survivor in Konohagakure that had been possessed by and enemy and no one knew how to release him.

"If Sasuke's body is taken over, my plan to make him kill me will fail" Itachi told the masked man. "I want to know if this rumor is real."

"Why not send Zetsu there?" Tobi asked. "He could tell us if it is real in a few minutes and save you a trip."

"Zetsu wouldn't be able to tell if Sasuke was possessed because he doesn't know him. A good impersonator can't fool me."

Tobi crossed his arms around his chest and stared at Itachi with his single Sharingan.

"Very well, Itachi. We wouldn't want Sasuke to die after all the trouble you had to keep him alive."

Itachi wished he could kill Tobi right there. He knew the old Uchiha was planning to use Sasuke as his pawn once Itachi was out of his way.

"_Not if I can do something about it"_ Itachi thought.

As he walked through the nearly deserted streets of his village, Itachi couldn't help but feel a twinge of nostalgia. It had been so long since he was home, words could not describe how much he missed being a normal ninja, having a family and playing with his little brother.

He had made a choice, a very hard one, but he didn't regret his sacrifice. He had to be strong and stand by his beliefs, just like Shisui had. No matter what, he would always be Konoha's Itachi.

The Uchiha suddenly stopped. There was a man walking in his direction, staring right at him. Despite that his hat was hiding his face, Itachi knew this man had recognized him immediately.

"It's been a long time" the Third Hokage said. "Welcome home."

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! Itachi is here! Is that good or bad? <strong>

**Some of you asked when this story takes place in the main plot. It's before Nobunaga's arc on Phoenix Rising. And yes, I am aware that Sasuke doesn't recognize Kakashi in the main story despite meeting him here, but you should think of this like the Naruto movies are to the main plot.**

**See you guys next time!**


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